Quests Volume Two Read online

  "Flat-breads. Slightly different. They're salted."

  "Can I try one?"

  "Boy, you're hungry or what?"

  "I have never tasted that kind of food, is all!"

  Keneith smiled and shook his head, giving him a flat-bread. Slightly different taste, but still interesting.

  "I think I like Human cooking. A lot," Raykim said, licking his lips.

  "And you haven't tried anything yet." Keneith winked as Bellinda and Hinrik came out of the wagon, stretching their arms and yawning.

  Both sat down by the fire and Keneith passed the bread-things around. Both had slept like logs and were obviously famished. Neither had noticed that Raykim had slept inside the wagon too.

  Bellinda was supposed to spend the night at an inn to get some privacy, although Raykim didn't know why she'd want that, but she'd come back after having a panic attack. She thought the city had a bad feeling to it as much as Raykim.

  Now that he was down in the city itself and could understand the Human language, Raykim noticed that on the other shore of the river Humans were gathering. They had spotted him, and their angry and fearful murmur was slowly growing. Soon they'd find a way to get to him, so he made sure he had room to open his wings and get away by his own means. He'd catch up with the others outside the metropolis.

  And then a blond, androgynous being came around the wagon and sat with them. He had pointed ears, like Genn and Fajrulo, but brown eyes. He kept his hair very long and wore a green tunic and brown breeches.

  "Good morning!" he greeted cheerfully. "Good to see you again!"

  "Belfi, how did you find us?" Bellinda asked, surprised.

  Raykim's interest perked up. He had heard that name. The old bedtime stories his mother used to tell. Wait, what was it? Ah, yes, the son of a Genn and a dark goddess that used to be Human but had been turned into the Queen of Demons...

  "I was walking towards Maxwetria when some Waiora upriver told me a half-blood had cleaned this part of town." Belfi smiled fondly at Hinrik who blushed. "I knew it must be you. You have made progress since I last saw you."

  "I'm still learning," Hinrik answered shyly.

  "We were supposed to meet you here, but I'm not sure we can stay for much longer," Keneith said. "This is my cousin Raykim, and as you can see, he's been spotted, so we better get out of here as soon as possible."

  Belfi nodded to Raykim, who remembered the whole story now. "Belfi the Immortal Half-blood?"

  "I am he. Nice to meet you, Raykim."

  Raykim was very pleased with himself. And very excited at the thought of meeting someone he thought existed only in bedtime stories. Although if the Immortal Half-blood existed for real, so did his dark twin, the Lord of Darkness.

  "You're known everywhere," Hinrik said admiringly.

  "I've been around for almost four centuries, after all." Belfi winked. "I was coming here to warn the people they were headed towards self-destruction with all the pollution in the river, but now you've cleaned itm they might survive for a little longer. Nobody will thank you, though."

  "I did it because I felt it needed to be done for the creatures in the river," Hinrik replied.

  Raykim nodded. He was very proud of his elder foster brother, who had lent him his breeches and had cleansed the water and...

  "And they are very thankful indeed," Belfi said. "Humans... much less. This city is doomed if they don't start create better sanitation and a sewer system."

  "There is a dark aura here," Bellinda said, thoughtful. "I had a panic attack last night. I tried to sleep at an inn and had to run away."

  "Yes, it's that bad." Belfi nodded, thoughtful. "Why don't we get out of this town so I can tell you all what happened in the east during these months?"

  ***

  Keneith was pleased to meet Belfi again. They had a history of chance meetings, starting with the very first some twenty years earlier in Moriana.

  Keneith was thirty-two back then, but still looked twenty, which meant that he could still apply to the schools of magic. After leaving Kelvia, he'd stopped in Xendaria and taken the full courses of their shamanic schools, which had taught him nothing. His magic was sort of elemental, but Human shamans had different means to tap into it.

  Then he'd tried the Konigtown school of magic, again passing himself off as a teenager even though he was already twenty-four. Konigtown was on a lake shore and some feel of the old Genn Kingdom of Rayheart still lingered there. Not enough to help him, though, and he didn't meet any Waiora either.

  And then he'd reached Moriana, which used to be the heart of the Moren Empire, hoping he'd find some schools based on the magic that had set up the empire – to no avail. The Magical Races were as absent as the spell that had kept a non-dynastic spell-driven succession on the imperial throne for a couple of centuries.

  But Belfi had seen Moriana from its early days and liked it enough to spend time there when he wasn't wandering throughout Varia. He'd met Keneith on the outskirts, on the day he'd been venting his frustration at the school of magic by throwing balls of fire against a stone wall, with not much damage except to his already bruised pride.

  Someone had known Belfi was in town and had dispatched him to stop the crazy student who was almost setting fire to that part of the city. He was supposed to take Keneith down and give him to the town council, but instead Belfi took him away from the Human town and into the forest of Appleyard.

  Keneith's body was already scarred from the experiments in the previous three schools. Belfi was the first teacher who actually taught him how to handle all the energy he had in himself, that made him also very sexual and constantly horny – another reason for being constantly frustrated.

  Yes, women liked him, but sometimes he was too rash or not gentle enough, so sometimes they just didn't want to see him again. But then sex was just a way to expend his energy, not a display of love or affection. He knew by then he didn't have a heart – not in the Human sense. Being thirty and having never felt his heart flutter for anyone meant he was more a ball of loose energy than anything else.

  Belfi had taught him control, how to channel his mixed blood power, how to split between fire manipulation and sexual arousal, and mostly what being half-blood meant. That he'd never belong anywhere. He might grow fond of people, but he was so long-lived that he was destined to lose them to old age.

  Keneith wasn't immortal like Belfi. His body did age – although he still looked barely thirty at fifty-five, while Belfi was stuck with his twenty-two-year-old body – but slower than Humans. He could probably fit into a Genn community, though.

  Thus, after a few years, when Keneith was less of a danger to himself and others, Belfi took him to the Genn villages of Appleyard. Apparently one of his descendants had had the same problem – not having magic at all until puberty when it had suddenly exploded in ways that had jarred the Genn themselves.

  Belfi had introduced Keneith to Joyrise, who had ended up marrying a Human woman and living most of the year in the Varian capital, and then he had met Joyrise's daughter Bellinda. Keneith had felt something for the young healer who stared at him adoringly, but when they'd moved to Havenstock things had started falling apart. Too many people, too many distractions – for both of them.

  And now they were on the road, after meeting Belfi in Havenstock, again by chance. Originally they were headed to the ruins of the capital of Rayheart. Keneith had seen the ruins of the capital of the Genn kingdom of Appleyard along with Bellinda and thought it was fitting that they explored all the lost Genn cities.

  But then, outside the walls of Moriana that had just fallen to the Varian king they were trying to get rid of, they'd found Hinrik, wounded and bruised, and since they were headed for Salamar to cross the river anyway, they'd taken him home.

  And then the Salamar king had asked Belfi to stay and protect him, and Keneith, Bellinda and Hinrik had headed north along the Ondan. Now, four and a half months later, they had somehow reunited with Belfi in Maxwetria, once more by
chance.

  Keneith was starting to consider Belfi a friend, one he could count on through the centuries. Belfi was immortal, unless someone killed him, they could spend more time together. Maybe they could even wander together, especially if Bellinda decided to go home and take Hinrik with her.

  Of course there was Raykim, who still had the rashness of youth. But then, Belfi might help Keneith to manage his young cousin as well.

  Belfi sat at the front of the wagon with Bellinda while Keneith levitated to the roof and sat with his feet dangling between Bellinda and Belfi, with Raykim crouched behind him. Hinrik was on horseback as usual and soon they were all out of Maxwetria and on the other shore of the river, headed towards Kelvia.

  Keneith hadn't been back in his hometown for almost forty years now. He thought he owed it to his father to tell him what he had learned about himself and Cynnamon the Red Headed Poet. They'd all known somehow she wasn't Human, but Keneith doubted Darhon or Lura ever figured out she was actually a dragon in human form.

  Belfi asked how the trip north had been, and Keneith let Bellinda do most of the talking, except when it came to Hinrik's victories and the meeting with his pure-blooded cousin Starblazer. Raykim was wide-eyed in wonder as he listened to their adventures before meeting him, and Hinrik was quiet all the way through, listening.

  "And what happened in the east?" Bellinda asked at last. "Did you manage to make your pilgrimage to the destroyed capital of Rayheart?"

  "Yes, I went there after Salamar fell to the Blackmore king," Belfi answered, looking at Hinrik. "I had told Conon I wasn't really the right person to help him keep his throne, but sometimes one's name means more than the actual truth. I guess they'll stop calling me Kingmaker now." He grinned.

  Hinrik didn't look upset. He must have realized his true calling had nothing to do with Salamar and its king or its army. Now you need a little more initiative... as long as you don't suggest we become an itinerant circus again, of course. Thank Fire that thought must be gone now.

  And then Belfi's words registered.

  "So both the Blackmore and the Varians reached the Ondan somehow," Keneith said.

  "Yes, the Varians have Moriana, the Blackmore have Salamar. Raddanmor also fell to the Blackmore king along with Rothilnelm and everything in between. The Varians are pressing the Gallians against Amrendra, I'm afraid soon that will be another kingdom gone. And when the Varians will have access to the coast, the Blackmore will do the same. They will either expand towards Ilitan or towards... Maxwetria. I told you that city is doomed anyway. If it doesn't fall to the plague, it will fall to the Blackmore."

  "So it's really time to leave the northern kingdoms," Keneith said. "We will go south through Kelvia."

  He'd never visited the neighboring Sannish Kingdom and he was kind of curious. And then there were the fabled southern kingdoms with their intricate sculptures and great palaces of marble lace... Belfi must have mentioned them in his stories while they were still studying alone in the forest.

  "It might take years," Belfi said. "The Gallians are putting up as much resistance as the northern tribes and the Genn aren't really helping the Varians in their conquest. But one day they might, and then who knows what will happen. Maybe a Varian empire will cover Varia centuries from now."

  "I'm long-lived, but not that long-lived." Keneith chuckled. "I doubt I'll ever see it!"

  "Hopefully none of us will see it." Belfi smiled. "It will mean years of war, centuries maybe. The southern kingdoms are quieter at the moment. You should probably go there if you want to live in peace."

  "I think I need to go back to Appleyard," Bellinda said. "And Hinrik should see his Waiora family."

  I knew it. I wonder if she's realized it yet, though. She's in love with Hinrik, but wouldn't admit it!

  Hinrik nodded, staring into space. They're meant to be together. I can see it, but they can't. And I'm the heartless one!

  "Then we will drop you near the Ondan's source and head south, what do you say, little cousin?"

  "I will miss them," Raykim said. "Is Belfi coming south with us?"

  "This wagon is becoming too small," Bellinda grumbled.

  "Don't worry, Bel, I will get off soon, I have other places to go and other people to see." Belfi elbowed her with an impish smile. "You go back home safe and sound. Joyrise misses you I'm sure."

  Damn, we'll split again! I'd better take Bel home quickly and then go looking for Belfi again! Although, do I really need a guide with Raykim who can scout ahead from the sky?

  "He's the one who's been wandering for fifteen to twenty years before settling with my mother and starting a family!" She sighed. "I hoped I had gotten some of his nomadic blood, but obviously I prefer to stay at home!"

  "At least you have a home," Hinrik said softly, staring straight ahead.

  "Would you like to go back to Salamar?" Belfi asked him.

  Hinrik looked at them. "No." He smiled briefly. "I'll find home, eventually."

  Bellinda smiled. Come on, tell him you want to give him a home!

  "I think you can have him," Belfi whispered in her ear. "He is healed. He will open his heart to you."

  "I don't think I'm ready, Belfi," she muttered nervously.

  Always the same, so guarded! Come on, Bel! How long did it take you to tell me you loved me? Hinrik is different, though! You should tell him right now if you don't want to lose him.

  Keneith gently kicked her shoulder and she looked up at him.

  "What?" she mouthed, frowning.

  "Get him," he mouthed back. "Go for it."

  She frowned and shook her head. Keneith rolled his eyes. Stubborn woman.

  Raykim poked him. He had a questioning look on his suntanned face.

  "I'll tell you when you grow up," Keneith replied.

  Raykim scowled. "I'm not a baby!" he snapped.

  "Maybe not, but it's a grownup thing that would bore you to death."

  Raykim looked away, upturning his nose. But soon something else caught his attention.

  Definitely a child with a very short attention span...

  CHAPTER FOUR

  When they stopped for lunch in a clearing hidden in a thicket, Raykim sat next to Belfi. He had so many questions! As the other three busied themselves with lighting a fire and finding food, he stared curiously at the immortal half-blood, not knowing where to start.

  "Speak, child," Belfi said gently, noticing his hesitation. "What questions bug you?"

  "My mother, she's a Sila, she told me about you! She said that when you were born you couldn't speak because if you did you tore down mountains, is that true?"

  Eyes wide in wonder, he waited for the answer. Belfi smiled and stared straight at him.

  "Yes, it's true. It had to do with my mother's power. You see, she used to be Human – centuries earlier. But she had found a Pond of Dark Magic and eventually the Pond's magic had permeated her."

  "She didn't look Human anymore, did she?"

  "Well, she did have a Human female shape, but she was completely black, as if the Pond possessed her. She couldn't stand the sunlight, in fact she usually used eclipses to try to come out in the open again."

  "Oooh!" Raykim was amazed. "So what did that make her? Human or what?"

  "Demon, unfortunately." Belfi sighed. "I'm not sure how she managed to have me and Manusia. I think my father was forced to copulate with her."

  "Oh!" Raykim pulled back, shocked. He briefly pondered whether his Fajrulo father had also forced his Sila mother to copulate and breed. But his mother had never mentioned being raped, even though she rarely spoke of his father. "So you have Genn and demon blood?"

  "Nine tenth Genn, one tenth demon." Belfi nodded. "I couldn't control my power at first. My twin, Manusia, is nine tenth demon and one tenth Genn, that's why he lives underground and commands the hordes of demons."

  "But the Genn mostly live underground now, no?"

  "Yes, most of them. Since they started hiding from Humans, they started carving their ci
ties in stone under the mountains. But the insides of mountains are already crowded with dwarves, Sila and Fajrulo, so I'm sure eventually the Genn will come to live above ground again. They were born to live under the sun, after all."

  Raykim nodded, thoughtful. "So you're the son of the last Genn king of Rayheart and you're a magic user?"

  "Yes, although I never sat on any throne." Belfi smiled. "Humans took it from my father when I was in my teens. And as you might have heard, there are no more Genn kingdoms. The survivors gather in towns or villages with councils to run them."

  "But you spend a lot of time with Humans, don't you?"

  "My stepmother was a Human warrior. I'm twenty-two forever and I'll never claim what is left of my father's lands."

  "What is left?" Raykim wondered.

  "Nothing. Konigtown is on the other side of the lake shore. The plains belong to Humans. And soon the greedy Blackmore king will have more power than my father ever did."

  "You can add to this that Belfi isn't as ambitious as Humans." Keneith joined them with a bowl of soup for each. It smelled delicious, like everything cooked. Raykim was very happy with his change of diet, cooked food was so much better than raw meat!

  Belfi smiled and thanked Keneith. Raykim drank half the bowl greedily before asking more questions. But by then his cousin had already grabbed Belfi's attention.

  "I wanted to thank you again for what you did for me," Keneith said. "I was as dangerous as you or Joyrise were until someone showed us how to control that energy."

  "No need to thank me, Keneith. I was glad to help both you and Joyrise handle your power. Nobody wants a dangerous half-blood on the loose, roaming the lands."

  "So do you think you should take Raykim with you?"

  "What?" Raykim straightened and put down his empty bowl. "Why? What did I do to upset you?" His voice broke. Now his cousin was chasing him away? Why did everybody hate him? Tears filled his eyes as Belfi put a calming hand on his shoulder.

  "You did nothing wrong, Raykim," he said gently. Leaving his hand on Raykim's trembling shoulder, he stared at Keneith. "Raykim isn't dangerous. His Sila blood balances his Fajrulo blood. He is in complete control of whatever gifts his mixed blood gave him. He is very young, and growing up he might learn to control more things, but he'll never be a threat to anyone, unless really, really provoked."