War of the Wisps

Jarnvaror waited outside the tower, his neck and tail wrapped around it’s base, his head pressed up against the window, looking inside where the Elvish healers were treating Peter. He hadn’t woken up since the mage had disappeared. Andrew was grateful for that. The image of Peter’s mangled legs seemed super imposed over his eyes whenever he blinked.

As far as Andrew had been able to tell, Jarnvaror had panicked once Peter had passed out. He’d roared, passed back and forth around the clearing like he might have been looking for something, before returning to sniff at Peter. Andrew felt like doing the same. But he at least had some idea of what to do. He knelt to pick Peter up, and the dragon roared at him.

“Shut up!” Andrew yelled back. “We need to get him to a healer! Leaving him here will just make things worse! Understand? Going to help!” As he yelled at the dragon, he gestured off toward Kalligair. Still growling, the dragon tilted his head, then he followed Andrew’s fingers with his gaze. The dragon let out a noise like a bark, then rose up. Before Andrew could do anything, Jarnvaror had scooped him and Anna up in one talon and Peter up in the other. Then he shot into the sky and flew to the city.

The Elves were not happy to see the dragon again. He landed in the massive clearing that served as the city square, roaring to scatter the Elves. He set his passengers down gently enough, but they were surrounded by guards in an instant. “He need’s medical attention!” Andrew said, pointing to Peter.

The guard’s eyed each other. Their commanding officer, a different Elf from before, stepped forward, spear lowered. “We were informed you wouldn’t-“

Jarnvaror hissed covering all three of his riders. The officer blanched and took several steps back.

“We can’t control him without Peter,” Anna said, pointing to the unconscious boy. “And he needs help.”

“He’s hurt pretty bad sir,” said one of the other guards. “I can go find a healer.”

“Very well,” the officer squeaked. “And bring some reinforcements when you do.”

The guard left. He returned with a host of other Elves. Several were dressed in red robes reminiscent of Sol’s, accompanied by younger Elves in sleeveless white tunics bearing a litter. They all paused, looking up at the dragon as they approached. Jarnvaror growled, but Andrew made a point of trying to calm him so the other Elves could approach. They loaded Peter onto the litter and took him to one of the towers deeper in the forest. The dragon followed. Head low and teeth bared to all the soldiers following.

Andrew and Anna followed as well, when a familiar figure came up beside them. “I thought we agreed the dragon would stay put.” Andrew turned and saw the Elvish captain they’d met at the edge of the city. “Bad enough that he flew off without you the other day. Now just landing in the city… Lord Sallowain will want to speak to you about this himself.”

“I need to stay with my brother until I know he’s alright,” Andrew found himself saying. He felt his face grow hot as he realized that might be taken as an insult. He focused his eyes on Peter, avoiding the Elf’s face.

“I see,” the captain muttered. Andrew could feel the disapproval dripping from his voice. “I understand your concern, but I must insist you go to the lord.”

“I could go and talk with him,” Anna volunteered. “Andrew can stay with his brother while the healers work.”

“No,” the captain said. “He will wish to speak with both of you.”

“Really, another voice cut in. “I’d like to speak with all three. But I see that won’t be possible now. Andrew turned and saw an Elf walking up to them. He was a little taller than Andrew, with long crimson hair tied in the sort of tight ponytail that made it look much shorter than it was. His clothing seemed to be caught somewhere between ceremonial robes and leather armor, with flowing sleeves and a tight vest, all of it in shades of white.

“Lord Sallowain,” the captain said, bowing his head.

The Elf lord smiled, and Andrew got the sense he was actually a lot younger than he looked. “It seemed like it would be wise to come to them for this.” He turned to the other two, and his expression hardened. “Sir Naimeh will keep an eye on the dragon for us while the healers do their work. I will speak with the two of you.”

Andrew exchanged a glance with Anna. She looked as nervous as he felt. Then he caught the guard’s expression, and he turned to follow the Elvish lord away from the throng of people and the dragon. Jarnvaror watched them go.

“Wisp seekers from Woadrok,” Lord Sallowain said, facing the pair again. “I take it you did find the Wisps? What happened.”

Andrew explained how they’d found the odd basin with the fountain and tree, and how they had waited to see if there would be any other activity around it for a few days. The Elf nodded, listening in silence until Andrew mentioned the mage.

“What did she look like?” Lord Sallowain asked. “Did she give you her name?”

“No, she didn’t,” Andrew said. “It was hard to make out details of her face. She was cloaked. Her hair was blond, though, and she said she was an Elvish mage.”

Lord Sallowain frowned. “I see. Anything else of note?”

“She said she has a long list of clients,” Anna said. “Like she’s planning to sell Wisps to people.”

The Elf lord’s frown deepened. “That doesn’t sound like her…”

“Who?” Andrew asked.

The Elf blinked at them, as if he’d just realized he’d spoken aloud. “Never you mind. Continue.”

Andrew did not answer right away. The Elvish lord was sweating, and his eyes kept darting over his shoulder, as if he expected someone to be listening in on the conversation. Andrew wondered if the Lord Sallowain might be involved somehow. Still, he couldn’t think of anything to say other than the truth. “She had more than one anchor. One on her staff, the other on her belt. We didn’t notice the second one until she managed to knock us all away. Then she threw my brother into the sky.”

“Just two?” the Elf lord asked.

“That we saw,” Anna pointed out. “If she had more, she didn’t need to use them.”

“Right… that makes sense.”

“Sir,” Andrew said, stepping closer to the Elf. “We were sent here to get information. About the Wisps themselves, and also anything going on around them. Please, if you know anything about this mage, we need to know. My brother was—”

The Elf held up his hand to silence Andrew. “I understand that.”

“Do you know something, then?” Anna asked.

Lord Sallowain looked around. There were a few guards standing nearby, preserving some privacy for the group. It wasn’t necessary though. Most were focused on the dragon wrapped around the infirmary tower. “I don’t have enough information to say anything for sure,” the lord began.

“We don’t either,” Anna said. “That’s the whole reason we came.”

“Right,” Sallowain muttered. He scratched the back of his head. Then he took a breath and looked right at him. “This mage you encountered. She’s probably my cousin, Sheil.”

“Why would she be capturing wisps?” Anna asked.

The Elf lord shrugged. “I don’t know. She always talked about changing the world. She was an excellent mage. She can control four anchors at once. But she always talked about changing the world. We weren’t that close,” he added quickly. “But I always sensed she was bitter about something. She disappeared a few months ago.”

“And this mage matches her description,” Andrew said.

Again, Sallowain shrugged. “Well, what little of it you have, yes.”

“Do you know who those connections of hers might be?” Andrew asked.

The young Elf shook his head. “In general, I suppose they could be anyone. But I can’t think of anybody that would actually want a Wisp. They’re such earie creatures.”

“It looked like she could control them, to some extent,” Anna said.

The Elf lord shook his head. “I meant personally, of the connections I know she has,” he said. “But I suppose if she has that skill, there would be a long list of people interested. Any petty mage who wanted to test themselves on a hard spell. I’ve heard the rumors of Wisps helping bandits recently too. That’s what got you lot involved, isn’t it? Really, anyone interested in chaos. I just don’t see how she could have met such people here in the Wood.”

“Someone interested in chaos,” Andrew repeated. He had difficulty wrapping his head around the thought. “Why would anyone want chaos?”

“Chaos brings change,” Lord Sallowain said. “In fact, I think it goes both ways. Any change brings a bit of chaos.”

“So you think your cousin is doing this to make some sort of change?” Anna asked.

The Elf lord staired off into the woods for a few seconds before answering. Then he nodded. “If it is her, then yes. I can’t imagine her doing this merely for coin. Someone else, maybe. If she has colleagues. But Sheil?”

“What does she want?” Andrew asked.

Lord Sallowain paused again before shaking his head. “I’m not sure. She was never satisfied with her position, and she seemed to blame the whole world for it.” He turned to look at Andrew and Anna. “She feels the world wasn’t fair to her as it was to our cousins Thalia and Guilas.”

“Wait…” Andrew began. “Thalia? As in…”

Sallowain nodded. “A bit closer on Sheil’s side than mine, but yes. Our cousins were the Royal consorts to King Jonathan and Queen Eleyah.”

“Weren’t they all Half Elves?” Anna asked.

Lord Sallowain shrugged. “The royal family has a duty to unite our two races. So they must be both. That is the way it has been since the time of King Horace.”

“So she has some problem with that?” Andrew asked.

Sallowain sighed. “If it is her.”

“Right,” Andrew said. “If it’s her.”

A light gust of wind blew through the treetops. Andrew couldn’t feel it from the ground, but the rustling felt like punctuation for the conversation as a whole. Sallowain closed his eyes. “I have a lot more work to get to today,” he said. “You should return to your companion.”

Andrew bowed. “Thank you, my lord,” he said. He looked over his shoulder again and realized that the guards were still surrounding the dragon, all tensed up as if they expected the wyvern to go on a rampage at any moment. “Um… will the guard’s be okay letting our dragon stay here while my brother rests? I don’t think he’ll listen to anyone but Peter.”

Lord Sallowain nodded. “I’ll let the guards know about the special circumstances. Though, please, let the king and queen know we would rather not host such creatures. And if we must, we’d appreciate a little more warning.”

“We’ll pass on your message,” Andrew said.

“Will your healers be able to restore Peter’s legs?” Anna asked.

Lord Sallowain shrugged. “That is not my realm of expertise. You should go and ask them.”

“Right,” Andrew said, recognizing the dismissal. “Let’s go, Anna.”

They went to the infirmary tower. Peter lay on a bed with yellow sheets, with two Elvish healers bending over him. He was on top of the sheets, and wooden splints had been wrapped around both legs. He was looking out the window and talking to Jarnvaror.

“How are you already awake?” Andrew burst, seeing him.

Peter grinned at him. “What are you talking about? I feel great!”

“What about your legs?” Anna asked.

“Seem fine to me,” Peter said.

“That’s because you’re not moving them,” one of the healers said without looking up. “We’re almost done. At least with what we can do.”

Peter frowned at them. “Well that sounds ominous.”

“Please be quiet, sir.”

Peter looked at the other two, then shrugged. Jarnvaror rumbled something through the window. Peter turned and told the dragon what the others had been saying. Andrew saw both healers look at one another in exasperation as Peter spoke, but they kept working.

A few minutes later, the healers stood. “We’ve repaired what we could,” one said.

“Great!” Peter said. He moved as if he were about to get up, then flinched and gave a sort of wheezing cry. “Wait, I thought you said you were done!” he managed.

“We did what we could,” repeated the chief healer. “You will walk again. But not for some time.”

“What exactly is some time?” Peter groaned.

“Your lower legs were shattered, young man,” the healer said. “We’ve managed to get the fragments into the correct spots and kickstart the healing process. But we can’t simply make them whole right away. Our magic has given it a chance though. Leave the splints on, and keep off your feet so they can heal properly.”

Peter managed to give the others a sheepish grin. “Well. I guess we’re stuck here for a few weeks. Sorry, guys.”

Jarnvaror rumbled from the outside, and the healers went white. “We didn’t say you wouldn’t be able to move,” the second healer added before Peter could speak. She turned and grabbed a pair of crutches off the wall. “Here these? No, they may not be the right size.”

“It will probably be a week before he can use those, regardless,” the other healer said. He eyed the dragon through the window. “If you have help, though, I think you’d be able to get in the saddle. If it’s not a long flight, at least. It would only be back to Woadrok, right?”

“Oh,” Peter said. “Well, I guess that works out, then.”

Andrew wished he had a mirror on him. He didn’t think he’d ever seen his brother look quite so flustered before, and it was such a shame he wouldn’t be able to see it himself.