Hunted by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #3)(43)

“The act may have been banned, but the spells still exist, and are even practiced in secret in certain countries that choose to flaunt the Great Accord.” Fenris sniffed at that. “Using an old and dangerous spell, Iannis and I managed to fake my death, and he transformed me in secret. I was in hiding for over a year before I came to live with him at Solantha Palace. You’ll understand why I keep well away from naturally born shifters.”

“Wow. That’s incredible.” My heart swelled with emotion at the thought that Iannis would do something so utterly selfless. I wished he were here so that I could throw my arms around him and hug him for it. The more I learned about him, the more I realized just how different he was from the stereotypical mage. “I guess you two must have been good friends.”

“Yes…you learn who your true friends are when you’re desperate. We met years ago in Manuc when I was traveling overseas, and kept up a correspondence. I backed him when the Federation was voting on his appointment as Canalo’s next Chief Mage. When he heard I was in trouble, he didn’t hesitate.” Fenris’s shoulders slumped. “I suppose that’s part of the reason why I lost my temper. Iannis saved me, and now that it’s my turn to save him, I’m failing.”

“We’re not failing,” I said firmly, taking his hand in mine and squeezing it. “We’re hitting a few roadblocks, that’s for sure, but we’re not defeated and we’re not going to be. As long as this thing is still glowing, we’re going to keep searching.” I pulled out the serapha charm that was tied to Iannis’s soul, and light burst from it once more.

“You still haven’t explained how it is that you can do magic,” Annia said, frowning a little. “If the Chief Mage turned you into a shifter, shouldn’t that mean you can’t do magic anymore?”

“In theory you would be right,” Fenris said, his lips quirking into a smile. “But shifters naturally have some magic at their disposal in order to shift, and Iannis tried to preserve as much of my power as possible during the transformation. I do not have the magical strength that I once did, and my skills are not what they used to be, but I still retain my knowledge and can do some spellwork.” He closed his eyes as he wiped a hand over his face. “It is exhausting though, especially large bursts of magic such as frying someone with a lightning bolt.”

“Here, let’s eat.” I pulled Fenris and Annia away from the stench of the charred body, then pulled out some dried meat for Fenris out of my backpack. We’d smuggled food from the pantry into our packs, stretching our supplies out a little longer. “We should replenish our strength as much as we can before we head out.”

“To where, though?” Fenris demanded. “We’ve no clue where Iannis ended up.”

“No, but Xiver did give us a good idea of where he parked that dirigible. Maybe we can find some clues there.”

“Yeah, and didn’t the captain say their mage went to destroy the dirigible?” Annia added. “If we can intercept him, maybe we can keep him from getting back to the camp so we can rescue the delegates without his interference.”

“I would love to get my hands on that traitor,” Fenris said, a hungry gleam in his eyes as he chewed his jerky. “Between the three of us there is a good chance we’d be able to subdue him.”

“Alright.” I patted Fenris on the back, then popped another piece of jerky into my mouth. And as we prepared to leave, I wondered just how much excitement I could look forward to now that Fenris was finally letting his bloodthirsty side show.





15





After our short rest, we headed back north into the mountain range in the direction we thought the dirigible might have ended up in. Unfortunately, Xiver hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d said he’d hidden it well, and we searched for several hours without any sight of it. Between hiking up into the forest with Xiver, then back out again and up into the range, we were exhausted, so halfway through the night we collapsed in a cave and slept for a few hours. I had to admit I missed the cots we’d slept on at the Resistance camp, but I was so tired from all the magical and physical exertion that I couldn’t bring myself to care overmuch.

The sound of unknown voices woke me, and I bolted upright to see that two Coazi males were standing at the entrance to our cave. Their forms were backlit by the morning sun rays streaming in, and I jumped to my feet, squinting against the light. Fenris and Annia, who’d been woken by my motion, quickly followed suit, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Annia nock an arrow and aim it at the intruders.

“Hold up,” I said, raising my hands to indicate to the Coazi that I meant no harm. The spears in their hands were pointed downward, and I didn’t think they intended to attack us, though they stiffened at Annia’s aggressive stance. “They’re not pointing any weapons at us, Annia, so I think we should do the same.” I waited until she lowered her bow, then turned my attention back to the Coazi. “Good morning.”

“Are you seeking Flying Man?” the one on the left asked as the two stepped a little further into the cave and out of the blinding light. Now that they were a little closer, I could see that though they wore the same buckskin tunics as the other tribe we’d encountered, the beads decorating their clothing were arranged in triangular patterns rather than the swirls the other tribe favored.