Wielder: Adept: Book 2 of Lady Shey's Story (The Wielder Cycle) Read online

  “I hope you are right,” Shey said.

  Marella clapped her hands on her legs. “So, what did Morgoran have you do today?”

  “We sent word to Ianthill for him to come to the Vale at once. That means that oaf Gondrial will be coming too.”

  “You didn’t like him?”

  “I wouldn’t go that far. I like him, but he’s just so childish for being an elf. I guess he missed out on all the wisdom.”

  “He’s half-elven,” Marella corrected. “I met him once, and I thought his bungling around like a fool was all just an act.”

  “When I met him here at the Vale about two seasons ago, just after I arrived here, his behavior didn’t come off as an act to me at all. I thought he was . . . well . . . an idiot, for lack of a better word. I mean, I was fascinated by him. I kept trying to discern whether or not he was insane or if he weathered some great childhood illness that left him a little off, if you follow me.”

  “Oh, he wasn’t as bad as all that, was he?”

  “I guess I should give him another chance to make a good impression. I will be open-minded when they get here.” Shey furrowed her brow. “Wait a moment. When did you change so much? You were horrible to me when I first met you at Enowene’s tower.”

  “Hey, you weren’t exactly a bouquet of roses either.”

  “I was just reacting to you!”

  Marella sighed. “And if I had stayed stubborn and you had not given me a second chance, neither of us would have realized the other was so . . . interesting.”

  “We did the right thing. You are a great friend, Marella Arden.”

  “As are you, Sheyna Namear.”

  A swirling blue light appeared in the middle of the commons, followed by a loud popping noise. After a blinding flash of light, Kyrie, the short-statured Kylerie elf, tumbled down the middle of the room, as if he had been running before using his arcane magic to deliver himself through space. He stood up, dusted off his brown trousers, and snapped one of his tiny suspenders back into place over his slightly soiled white shirt.

  “Kyrie! Is that you?” Shey inquired, happy to see her friend. The elf turned to her, and she realized it was not Kyrie but another Kylerie elf.

  Marella was halfway to greet him when she too realized it was not Kyrie.

  “Sheyna? Marella?” the elf asked.

  “I am Marella, and this is Shey,” Marella answered.

  “Thank the gods I found you. My brother, you know as Kyrie, has sent me forth to warn you. I am called Kymlie.”

  Shey looked upon Kymlie suspiciously. “Where is Kyrie?”

  “He is otherwise engaged. Quickly now, we need to go somewhere more private. There are eyes and ears everywhere.” He looked back and forth. “Come, take us somewhere secluded.”

  “What is all this about?” Marella asked.

  “Not here. Quickly, you are both in danger!”

  Shey sighed. “All right, follow us, Kymlie.”

  The Kylerie elf fidgeted back and forth as if something was about to jump out and attack him as Shey and Marella led him to the third tier of the tower. As soon as they entered Shey’s room and secured the door, Kymlie nervously surveyed the room before speaking.

  “Kyrie has uncovered some information that you are both to perform your final trials to become adepts of wielding.”

  “That’s great news!” Shey said. Marella nodded her head in agreement.

  “The problem is that you two will not be going through the trials alone, and one of you will not make it to the end unchanged.”

  “Well, of course,” Marella said. “Why wouldn’t we be changed? It’s a rite of passage.”

  “I have it on good authority that the Oracle is trying to interfere. You will be—”

  There was a knock on the door, and the knob began to turn. Kymlie panicked and popped out the exact way he came, with a flash of white light.

  “May I enter?” Morgoran’s voice came from the other side of the door. He knocked again. Shey opened the door to admit him. “I have some news. I received a communication that Sylvalora is on her way here now. It doesn’t say when she will arrive, but I thought you might like to know she is on her way.”

  “Aye, thank you, Master! It is exciting news.”

  He turned up his nose. “What is that strange smell? Did something burn in here?”

  “You are probably smelling the candle I had burning earlier.”

  “In the daytime? Don’t waste your candles, Shey. They cost money, you know.”

  “Sorry, Master.”

  Morgoran nodded and exited the room.

  Chapter 2: Suspicions

  As night blanketed the Vale of Morgoran, Shey found that she couldn’t fall asleep. Kymlie never reappeared and no matter how she tried, she couldn’t get the Oracle, Kambor, out of her head, so she went to Morgoran’s reagent closet to get the ingredients to make a harmless sleeping draught. Once she picked her ingredients, she put them in a small wicker basket and carried them to Morgoran’s laboratory a few doors down from the reagent closet. At first she was not concerned about hearing voices coming from inside the laboratory door. Morgoran sometimes talked to himself when he worked. But right before she stepped through, she heard a voice that chilled her bones and she bolted beside the door, out of sight. What is Toborne doing here talking to Morgoran?

  She clutched her basket and listened to the conversation, pressing herself as close to the wall as she could. Morgoran sounded like he was scolding Toborne.

  “We have to destroy it. That fool Kambor is too dangerous. If he gets his hands on it, he will manipulate it into something terrible and do away with us all.”

  “Don’t be so melodramatic, Morgoran. If we use it first, we can take away his power.”

  “I don’t think so. I think he channels his magic like the clerics do, from their gods. He calls himself the Oracle of Aedreagnon. This gem will not hold him. I think we should wait until Ianthill gets here tonight and then use our combined abilities to destroy it.”

  “Aedreagnon? There’s your answer. His god is the god of chaos; an easily manipulated virtue. I still believe we could use the stone to our advantage somehow. Just imagine, we could defeat or control anything that draws upon essence.”

  “Aedreagnon is also one of the gods some dragons worship. Don’t forget that.”

  “The dragons who worship Aedreagnon are mostly exiled, very inconsequential.” Toborne’s tone shifted. “This gem has the potential to be a great asset to us both, Brother!”

  “The cost is not worth it. Had you not learned your lesson when you tried to possess the Silver Drake? How did Kambor even know of this gem? Who have you told?”

  “No one. I’ve been in Ishrak, deep within the Mountains of Madness, in my secret workshop. I had not been in contact with anyone until you summoned me here.”

  “What have you been doing up there? You are not experimenting with dragon eggs from Kragodor again, are you?”

  “What else is there to do up there? I am close to a breakthrough. If I can duplicate the process, I might be able to create a more useful Dramyd.”

  Shey put her free hand over her mouth. What is Toborne doing up there? Is Morgoran helping him?

  “What! Are you mad? What does the world need with more of those abominations? You should cease operations up there at once.”

  “Morgoran, there was a time you enjoyed experimenting as much as me. What happened?”

  “I came to my senses, and my involvement was hardly a contribution. I will have no part of it. I will never help create such things.”

  Shey slowly let out her breath in relief.

  “Suit yourself.”

  “And I will be speaking to Ianthill about it when he gets here. If we have to stop you with force, we will.”

  “If this Oracle is as dangerous as you say, we will need such things as Dramyds to defeat him if he gathers up an army against magic.” Toborne sounded angry. “If he persuades the kings, he can build quite an offensive army
.”

  “Our magic will give us the advantage without having to resort to such immoral acts.”

  “Not if the Oracle finds a way to suppress it or if he finds a way to shield his army from it. I can’t imagine you know how to use a sword anywhere near as well as a veteran soldier. They will cut us down like blades of grass in a field.”

  “So your solution is to create an army of twisted, evil dragonkind to work for us? I’m sure the people of the kingdoms will just rush to our side and not consider us evil at all!”

  “No need for sarcasm. Do you have a better idea?”

  “Not as of yet, but when Ianthill gets here, we will discuss it.”

  “Ianthill, Ianthill, Ianthill! That elf has not had a good idea for at least a century!”

  Shey thought she heard something behind her, but before she could turn around, she felt the presence was already near her.

  “BOO!” Shey was goosed from behind. She threw the reagent basket into the air. Some of the ingredients spilled into the laboratory. She whirled around, coming face to face with Gondrial. “Did you miss me? I’d wager you missed me.” His smile was infuriating.

  Shey could feel her face turning red with anger. “No!” was all she could think to say.

  “Oh, I don’t believe that.” He bent down to pick up some of the reagents. Morgoran was also looming above her now.

  “How long have you been out here, young lady?” her master asked.

  Shey quickly decided not to give away that she had heard quite a lot. “Not long at all.”

  “Nonsense. She was lingering and listening to everything going on. I snuck up on her from way down the corridor,” Gondrial said, handing her the fallen reagents. “Why? What’s going on in there?” Gondrial craned his neck to peek into the room.

  Shey kept her composure and held up the basket so Morgoran could see it. “As you can see, I just came from the reagent closet. Gondrial is exaggerating as usual. I’m sure he will get some kind of strange, wicked kick out of getting me into trouble.”

  Ianthill appeared. “Greetings, Brother.” He looked at the other two. “What’s going on here?”

  “Oh look. Ianthill has just arrived,” Shey pointed out. “They must be tended to at once.”

  Gondrial gave her an inquisitive look, and then he must have decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and follow her lead. “All right, sure, I might have exaggerated a wee bit.”

  Morgoran stared at him for a long moment before turning to Shey. “What’s all this?” He started going through her reagents. “Are you going to make a sleeping draught?”

  “Aye, I was,” she said.

  Morgoran took a breath. “I’m sorry you can’t sleep. It indicates to me that something is weighing on your mind.”

  “No, Master, I think it might be too much bittering tea before bed.”

  “Nevertheless, we will discuss it at our next lesson. If nothing more, we will analyze the components of bittering tea so you will know better than to drink it before bed!”

  “Aye, Master.”

  “You two go on now. Ianthill and I have a few things to discuss. I set up a room for Dicarion to work in on the next tier. Why don’t you go to his lab and ask him to use it for the brewing of your draught, and while you’re there, tell him to come here to my lab at once. Ianthill has arrived, and we will need Dicarion’s council.”

  Shey nodded and started walking. Much to her chagrin, Gondrial followed her.

  “What was all that about? Why did you lie to him? What was he doing in there? Was he talking to someone? I didn’t see anyone in the room.”

  “Go away. I don’t trust you.”

  “What? I just lied for you! I think you at least owe me an explanation.”

  “I owe you nothing. You almost got me in trouble and you interrupted me.”

  “Ahh, it must have been interesting. Who was in there with old Morg?”

  Shey stopped long enough to slap Gondrial across the face. “Don’t disrespect my master! His name is Morgoran.”

  “All right, don’t get so jumpy. I was just asking you a question.” He rubbed his cheek.

  Shey resumed walking, this time at a quicker pace. “How did you get here so fast, anyway? Weren’t you back in Adracoria?”

  “Ianthill has a Lora Daine given to him by a dragon knight friend. It transported us here.”

  “Hmm, just as I expected, things must be growing serious if Ianthill felt it necessary to use a dragon stone to get here so quickly.”

  “Morgoran did make it sound urgent that Ianthill get here as soon as possible. Wait, you still haven’t told me what you heard in there. I’m serious, you should tell me. I might be able to help.”

  Shey shoved him into a darkened parlor and lit the sconces with a flick of her wrist and a sharp snap of her fingers. “You are careless, even reckless, and you haven’t given me one reason to trust you. How can you help me?” Gondrial didn’t say anything. “If you want to know so badly, why didn’t you stay with Ianthill and go into the laboratory instead of chasing me through the corridors of the tower?”

  “Chasing you is much more fun.”

  Shey sighed. “Can you not be serious for even one moment?”

  Gondrial became somber. “All right. I’m serious.” He pulled the parlor doors closed. “As a gesture of good faith, I will tell you what I know first and you can follow with what you know if you wish.”

  Shey nodded. “All right, but this better not be a trick. I can tell if you’re lying.”

  “Understood. Ianthill is keeping his concerns away from me too. He is as tight-lipped as I have ever seen him. I couldn’t have attended that meeting; he would not have let me. I suspect he will let me know what’s going on sooner or later, but the First Trine tend to discuss things first before they let anyone else know anything. So, I assume the person who Morgoran was talking to in his lab was Toborne. I did get a glimpse of the parchment the messenger brought to us at Ianthill’s tower in Adracoria. It said something about a dangerous development and also something about someone called Kambor. Whatever the rest said, Ianthill went straight to his dragon stone and told me to pack light because we were traveling by Lora Daine. Now, what do you know?”

  Shey studied Gondrial’s face for several moments. “You are right. Morgoran was speaking to Toborne. I was surprised to hear him. I was also surprised they would let him come around after what he tried to do with my mother.”

  “What did he try to do with your mother?”

  “Wait, you don’t know who my mother is, do you?”

  “No, should I?”

  “Never mind, that’s a different story. I will fill you in later. Let’s stick to what we were talking about. The Oracle is dangerous because he believes only dragons should have and use any type of magic.”

  “What would give him such a terrible—?”

  “Shhh! You asked, now let me tell you.” Gondrial closed his mouth and nodded. “Morgoran and Toborne at some point created a gem that can suppress the ability to draw upon essence. Kambor wants it so he can manipulate it to rid the kingdoms of wielders. With it, he could render an essence wielder useless and easily kill him or her. Toborne wants to use it in a similar way to give the First Trine the advantage, but Morgoran thinks it would be immoral to use the gem and he wants to destroy it. They were both waiting on Ianthill to discuss it.”

  Gondrial winced. “This is going to be difficult for you to hear, but if they decide to keep the gem, we need to find a way to destroy it ourselves.”

  “Oh, and how do you propose we do that?”

  “If nothing else, we can steal it and seal it away somewhere.”

  “I’m not sure about that. I would think the First Trine would know we took it. It wouldn’t stay hidden long.”

  “Maybe they will agree to destroy it now that Ianthill and Dicarion are weighing in with their thoughts. I’m sure Ianthill will agree with Morgoran before Toborne.”

  Shey nodded before remembering the rest of
the conversation between Morgoran and Toborne. “Oh, there’s more. Toborne has been busy experimenting with dragon eggs from Kragodor in the Mountains of Madness in Ishrak. He has been trying to create a better Dramen, or something like that.”

  “You mean Dramyd?”

  “Aye, that’s it. What’s a Dramyd?”

  “It’s a winged, twisted dragonkind creature. Apparently the process to create it makes it insane, unpredictable, deadly, and uncaring. It just wants to kill and destroy. Ianthill has always condemned the experiments of Toborne and Morgoran, except for their essence experiments with the jade statuettes. Morgoran used to see a point to experimenting with dragonkind eggs, but when he saw what Toborne was doing with them, he halted all of his involvement.”

  “As he should.” She wasn’t sure if she believed all that Gondrial was telling her. If he was being truthful, Ianthill must confide in him much more than Morgoran does with her. “Anyway, Toborne believes the Oracle is going to start a magic war and they will need an army of Dramyds to win it.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that. Ianthill will side with Morgoran on that issue as well. It will never happen.”

  “I am beginning to agree with you. What we need to do is find this essence-suppressing gem.”

  “I thought you were afraid the First Trine would catch us. I think you’re correct; Morgoran would be particularly good at tracking it since he created it.”

  Shey thought for a moment. “What if we took it somewhere else, to someone who knows how to destroy it properly? If we could do that before Morgoran and the rest of the First Trine find us, we could simply take our punishment after the gem is gone permanently.”

  “Then we need to grab it and get it to Darovan. The sand elves will be the only ones who can destroy it.”

  “How do you know? As far as I know, this is the only gem of its kind.”

  “Well, they are the originators of elemental magic and they invented the magic used to create the jade statuettes Morgoran and Toborne experimented with. They are probably responsible for the spells Morgoran used to create the suppression gem.”