Spirit Speaker

I woke with a start in the Count's office. The sun was still hanging in the sky, though considerably lower than it had been before I left. The sky was a dazzling array of pinks, blues, and golds. Rena still slept on the sofa. 

Nothing had changed. 

Everything had changed. 

How long was I gone?

Long enough for Rena to wake, judging by the shifting woman on the couch. 

She opened her eyes. 

"Lukas?"

"Easy, Rena, it worked. The darkness is gone, and your wound should heal nicely, though there will be a scar, I'm sorry."

She tried to sit up. 

"No! Don't move for the next couple of hours. You'll crack the Arema."

"But I'm hungry!" She complained, lying back down. 

I grinned. "That's a good sign, means the spirits worked. I'll get Rowan to bring us some food, and then we'll need to talk to a man named Severen Ilyas."

"The royal surveyor?" Rena winced as she shifted uncomfortably. I summoned a spirit and sent it to Rowan. 

"You know him?" I asked once the spirit had left.

She nodded. "Yes, he's lodging in the Maiden's Blush. Why do we need to talk to him?"

"He's a spy, Rena, and he might know where the shadows have taken Quint."

"Oh…wait, what? Why is there a spy in Corel?"

I shrugged. "Probably checking out the mine, protecting royal interests, that sort of thing." She gave me a look. "Relax Rena, he's one of the good guys. You might know him actually, apparently, he was at the Academy with us."

She thought for a second. "Nope, doesn't ring a bell."

"That's what I said when the spymaster told me."

She studied me for a few moments. "Did you get some sleep?" She asked. 

"Why?"

"Your colour has returned. You were very pale when you arrived."

You see too much, Rena. 

"I nodded off while watching over you, I woke up a few minutes before you did." 

She tried to get up again and winced. 

I shook my head. "Relax, countess, or you'll hurt yourself." 

She ignored me. 

I stood fast and helped her up. 

"Oh, headrush." She said, clutching at her forehead, her balance unsteady. 

A knock at the door.

"Master? You called for food?" Rowan opened the door and stepped in. 

"It's good to see you up, ma'am."

Rena wobbled a bit, before sitting carefully down. 

"Semi-up." Rowan corrected himself. 

"You haven't changed a bit, Rowan." She said, with warm exasperation. 

Rowan shrugged. "Why improve on perfection?" He lowered the trays and turned to leave. 

I shook my head. 

"Why don't you stay here with Rena, lad, catch up a bit, and make sure to support her when she tries to leave the room."

Rena looked down with a chagrined smile on her face. 

"As you say, Master. Where are you going?"

"To the pub." 

*

The Maiden's Blush was easy enough to find. It was the only bar in town and was as lively as you'd expect as the workday drew to a close. 

It quietened down a bit when I walked in, strangers were often distrusted in these smaller towns. 

I raised my hand. "A drink for everyone." I said, tossing the barkeep a pouch of coins.

The patrons cheered and then returned to their drinks. 

I headed to the bar. 

"Not bad, Master Mage." The bartender said, sliding a tankard of something alcoholic at me. "Get that down ya." 

"You know me?" I asked, taking a sip. It burned like an inferno down my throat. "Gods, what is this stuff?"

The bartender grinned. "A little tradition in the inn. New patrons get given one of those on the house. If they can drink the whole thing, they're alright."

"And if they can't?"

He shrugged. "They're still alright, just not as alright as they could have been had they drunk the whole thing."

I looked around and saw every eye in the room on me. 

I raised the tankard in a toast, and put it to my lips, downing its entire contents in one go. 

I slammed the tankard on the table. "Another!" I called out loudly. 

A huge cheer erupted from the tavern. 

The bartender laughed and complied. 

"You sure know how to drink, Master Mage." He said, sliding the tankard back to me. 

"My teacher was a dwarf." I explained, raising the tankard to my lips once again. "I learned to handle my booze at an early age."

I put the tankard down, feeling a light buzz. 

I focused, and the buzz vanished. 

"I wonder if you can help me, barkeep."

"What do you need?"

"I'm looking for the royal surveyor? I've got a message for him."

"Yeah, he's up in his room. An odd one that one." The barkeep said, taking the tankard from me. I slid a couple of coins across the bar. 

He slid them back. "No sir, I've never seen anyone order a second one. It's on the house."

I shook my head. "Can't do that, sir. See? My purse is already closed, and I'm far too drunk to manage the knots."

The barkeep chuckled and pocketed the coins. "As you say, Master Mage. Should I send the boy up to call him?"

I shook my head. "Where's his room?"

He told me, I thanked him and headed upstairs. 

I found the door, reached for the doorknob, then thought better of it. I pressed myself flat against the wall beside the door, and knocked. 

"Master Ilyas?" I said. "I've got a message from Thomas."

The door exploded, and a crossbow bolt buried itself three inches into the wall opposite. 

I held up the royal seal that I had conveniently forgotten to give back to the king. I put my hand in the doorway.

"Hold up, I'm not lying. See?"

Silence. Then I felt a hand take the seal. After a few moments, it was back in my palm. 

"Alright, I believe you. Come in." 

I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped over the debris. 

I focused for a moment, and the door repaired itself. 

The man sitting across from me was…average. Everything about him was just average, from his clothes to his bland brown hair, brown eyes, and carefully cultivated five o'clock shadow. 

It took a lot of effort to look that average. 

"A mage? Thomas must be upping the ante." He studied me in return.

"I'm your pickup to the Elven Forests." I said. "May I sit down?"

The man nodded and pointed to the bed. I took it. 

"We were supposed to meet at the count's house in three days. Why are you here now?"

"The Count's been kidnapped, and I need your help to get him back."

The man, a normal-looking human, suddenly looked very different. His features shifted to that of a blonde half-elf with green eyes. 

I swore and held a handful of flames. 

"Hold up, mage!" The half-elf raised a hand. "I'm a friend!"

"You're a mimic!" I said. "No mimic would willingly work with a human king."

"I'm different!" He said, "Look into my weave and tell me if I'm lying." 

"What, so you can shank me in the gut when I get close? No, thank you."

The mimic started laughing. "Come now mage, if I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead." He pointed up at the ceiling. 

Four crossbows, ready and loaded were pointing at me, being held by four very focused dwarves.

Reluctantly I extinguished the flames. 

"So, Dreth's been taken." 

I nodded. 

"That's surprising."

"Shocking enough for you to shift."

The assassin nodded. "Yes." He shifted again, back into the form of Severen Ilyas. "Sorry about that."

"Sorry, I almost painted the wall with the charred remains of your insides." I replied shrugging. 

He chuckled. "Sorry for almost turning you into a pincushion."

"There's a lot of apologies going around."

"There's a lot of things to be forgiven for."

I grinned. "I like you, mimic. The Count has been taken by shadows, and I suspect an organisation known as the Abyss is involved."

The mimic absently scratched at his five o'clock shadow. 

"I've heard rumours of freaky things happening at the count's lodgings. I just thought they were idle servant chatter."

"Do you know anything?"

He shook his head. "About the shadow? No. About the Abyss? Maybe. Do they have a penchant for wearing dark robes and wandering around the woods late at night?"

I sat up straight, hope beginning to kindle in my chest. 

"I don't know about the woods, but they do like to dress up in dark robes."

The mimic looked up at one of the dwarves. "Pharos! Looks like I owe you a drink. Turns out they were going to be trouble, just like you said."

The dwarf exactly above my head, red-haired, red-bearded and leather-armoured, laughed. "Told you, Severen."

"Do you know where they are?" I asked, looking up at the dwarf. 

He shook his head. "No, but I know where they're going to be. There's a clearing about an hour into the woods that way." The dwarf pointed behind him. "They gather there almost every night, for a few minutes, and then disperse."

"Do you know why?" Severen asked, frowning. 

"Could never get close enough to hear what they had to say."

"Pity that. How about we go and ask them?" Severen stood up and walked out the door. I followed.