The Phoenix Ring(38)

He regarded Aidan and Timothy for a few seconds before he stood.

"Aaliyah, Come with me. The rest of you stay here."

The girl that stood would have been ugly in comparison to the rest of the amoghs, due to a thin scar that ran across her left cheek, from her hairline to her chin, just barely missing her eye. By focusing on that one imperfection, Aidan was able to see her as a human instead of angel.

She had deep hazel eyes and a long curtain of brown hair, currently tied into a braid behind her back. She was probably about his age, but she would barely come up to his shoulder. The clothing she wore was strange, instead of donning a skirt like any respectable girl, she had pants that barely came past her knees, and a shirt that only had a left sleeve, the other was cut off at the shoulder.

The two mages followed the older man out of the room and began to walk down the hall, followed by the girl, who moved more silently than a cat.

The amogh man stepped through a curtain a little less than halfway down the hall, within which was a simple room not unlike Bartemus's quarters.

The older man sat down, while Aaliyah stood at the entrance, removing any means of escape.

"So you know my name is Borin," the man said, "But who are you, sorcerer?"

Timothy didn't even seem to realize that a question had been asked, so Aidan decided to answer.

"My name is Aidan…" he had been about to say Rune, but then he remembered something Malachi had told him. "Dragonslayer. Aidan Dragonslayer."

The girl behind them burst into laughter, until Borin silenced her by raising his hand.

"He tells the truth, Aaliyah. Whoever this boy is, he has earned his title."

Timothy's forehead creased. "How did you know that?"

"Every amogh has a special ability. Aaliyah can instinctively anticipate events. I can read people's faces and eyes, and know what they are feeling, or if they are lying. Unfortunately, my ability is not perfect, so I would like some proof that it was indeed Bartemus that sent you."

"He said you would recognize this." Aidan said, raising his left hand.

The moment Borin saw the Phoenix Ring, his eyes widened in shock. He reached out with both hands and grasped Aidan's, gazing intently at the Soulrock. Then, to the mages complete surprise, a single tear slid down his cheek, landing on his desk.

"You wear Marcus’s ring…" he said.

"Master?" Aaliyah asked, a note of concern in her voice.

Borin shook his head and sat back in his chair, leaving the shocked Aidan standing.

"What does Bartemus want from me?" the old amogh asked, his voice shaking.

"Um…" Aidan said, confused.

Timothy finally regained control of his voice. "He actually wanted to talk to you, the means of which are in our packs, along with a gift for you. If you could have those returned to us, along with our staffs, then we would be quite grateful."

Borin nodded towards Aaliyah, who rushed out of the room and was back in a few seconds, bearing both of the packs and staffs.

The amogh's eyes narrowed as he saw Aidan's black staff, but he said nothing as the mages took their scepters.

Aidan opened his pack's magic compartment, letting dragon scales and spines spill over the desk, and heard a sharp intake of breath from the girl behind him.

Borin smiled. "What happened to Edwin?" he asked.

Aidan raised an eyebrow. "He's… no longer at the Fort. How did you know?"

"That warlock would never let this many scales into our hands, with them alone we could make a hundred swords of Rakka steel."

Aidan remembered that Rakka steel was iron mixed with dragon scales, and had the same anti-magical properties as dragon scales themselves.

"These spines are stronger than any type of metal. We will use them to make weapons as well. Thank you, Dragonslayer. This is a great gift. Tell me, how does Bartemus intend to talk to me?"

Aidan pulled the crystal out of his pack, where it had become buried under the scales.

He put it on the table before the amogh and pushed a little magic into it, since there was so little in the room and it had been sitting under a pile of dragon scales for the past week.

As soon as it had power it lit up, and Bartemus's voice rang out as clear as if he stood among them.

"Aidan? Are you already at Camp Ward?"

"Aye, the lad's here, old friend," Borin said, a smile breaking his face. "What do you need? It must have been urgent to send such young boys."

There was silence from the stone for a few moments.

"Borin, we're going to need an army. The allies of Malcommer have come back to power in the Nefarious Lands."





11





A shocked quiet feeling filled the room.

"You didn't tell us about that part." Timothy said, accusingly.