Whitestone

By WE Kelton

Ellestanya craves knowledge and power, as a Wizard of the Obsidian Tower it is expected that she will grow to be powerful. The day of her advancement to journeywoman, she left the safety of the tower determined to explore Midnight. Before she made her way through the dark roads and twisting alleys of the Warren, she encountered a pair of hypnotic eyes that reminded her of her familiar – the viper, Leo.

Spice needed to escape the Warren. He had one duty, and to achieve it he required a companion. When he spotted the wizardess walking boldly through the Warren, he knew his luck had turned for the better. Before he revealed himself to her, the wizardess crossed White Bridge and took her rest upon the 9th level of the White Tower. The only tower of the Seven Towers of Moonglow that stood empty.

Tammara had been traveling through the Western Steppes for seven moons without resting anywhere longer than three days. For a Cleric of Frey, grace was advanced only through action and unfailing service. She was enjoying the quiet grace of the White Tower deliberation chamber when her prayers were interrupted by a pair of bickering voices.
If she thought moons of constant travel were a test of her fortitude, how will she survive adventuring with a wizard and a rogue?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pandora's Press
• Release date: Nov 30, 2011
• ISBN: 9781937916084

WE Kelton

You would think a person with an advanced degree in a science discipline would have more sense than to be a fiction writer. Alas, I apparently skipped that session of course work and ran full bore at the Science Fiction and Fantasy wall. If you heard a teeth rattling sound a while back, pay it no mind - it was just me trying to knock sense back into my own head. Apparently all it did was knock a couple more story lines loose. Go figure.

Book preview

Whitestone

by

W.E. Kelton

Copyright 2011

Pandora’s Press

Smashwords Edition

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Author’s Note:

Because it is always more interesting to know where you are,

maps of Lyria can be found at the end of the book.

Chapter 1 – Watched

Spice continued shadowing the black cowled wizard as she moved with purpose in the early dawn. He had begun trailing her through the avenues of the Warren five annums ago, this past winter. He had first noted her when her hood lay upon her back and did not cover her hair of gleaming ebony. The long black cloak she wore hid the shape of her body, but could not hide the height of her. Curious he’d moved closer, though never out of the shadows that blanketed the avenue upon which she walked.

The one time he had seen the features of her face, he noted that she wore the badge of the Obsidian Tower. Startled to find she was a student of the Necromancers, he stared at her more intently. He would not have guessed that by the look of her. Where others of her kind were pale, often with sunken eyes and sallow skin, her skin was sun touched and the blue of her eyes burned into his head. He had once seen a sailor of the frost elves with eyes nearly the same burning blue, but even they lacked the depth he found in hers.

He had lived all of his twenty-four annums in the treacherous alleys of the Warren. He had seen all manner of races and people fall prey to predators and their own vices with in his home. In the annums he followed her; he had grown out of the gangs of Warren Rats and earned the place of Lieutenant to the 2nd Advisor.

The 2nd Advisor was the second most powerful position in the Warren; the first being the positions of the 1st Advisor. The identity of the 1st Advisor was known only by the one who held the position and the current Duke or Duchess of Nightshade. The Duchess of Nightshade was a landed noble that controlled the four areas of Midnight, the Warren, Wizards Walk, the Noblesse and the Barracks, as well as the Garrison of Nightshade.

His hazel gaze watched from an area of deep shadow. He did not question why he followed the wizard every dawning after the full moon. He just followed her and watched as she walked untouched through the maze of avenues, alleys, and poorly lit paths. He never approached her and only ever watched her from a safe distance. It would not do to show concern or interest in the wizard. What friends and enemies knew could be used to gain power over the House of the 2nd Advisor.

After she disappeared into her tower of wizardry, he started his return to the 2nd Advisors building. When the distinctive scent of smoke filtered into his nose, he increased his pace and started running through the narrow shadowed alleys of the Deep Warren. He rounded a corner and slid into the stone base of the nearest building. Before he could burst through the main doors of the 2nd Advisor’s building, he was thrown to the ground as a sudden explosion turned his home into an inferno.

He ran into the burning structure as no more than a handful of familiar faces tried to escape the smoke and fire. Moving with the full speed of his race, he moved through the falling debris. A loud crash echoed from above and five levels of stair cases crashed under their own weight; causing the upper levels of the building to become inaccessible.

He dove through the burning debris toward gleaming marble columns. Just when his hands should reach out to catch the stone, the long body of a green and gold patterned serpent wrapped around the column. The columns were made of marble from the Crystal Mountains. They were more resistant to fire than the wooden construct that housed them.

His serpent’s tongue flicked out of his mouth as he tasted the air and wound his way up the cool stone column. The long bodied serpent stretched toward the intact railing of the fifth level mezzanine. His head caught the railing and coiled around the gleaming wood and slowly pulled the remainder of his body to safety. Once even his long tail was away from the flames that licked ever higher, he moved swiftly up the remaining stairs.

He slipped between precariously hung doors in time to witness his human friend Curry stab the 2nd Advisor in the stomach and heart. The serpent launched itself at the human man and sunk his fangs into the soft flesh of his neck. Deadly venom flowed into the bite. Once all of the poison was released, he retracted his fangs and dropped from his prey. He changed back into his human form and cried out, Advisor! He knelt beside a dark skinned and much smaller man.

The 2nd Advisor’s black eyes caught hazel ones and he said, Lady Black replaces me. She is not to be trusted, her kind breed hate and death. He coughed up blood as he said, It is good you keep watch over her.

Who? Spice asked.

The girl-child, of the lapis blue eyes, the ancient night goblin replied.

She is a wizard of the Obsidian Tower, Spice said in a near whisper.

Protect her, befriend her, her blood is legend, the Advisor coughed.

Won’t you, Spice couldn’t finish the question. He knew the Advisor would not recover from this assassination attempt.

Bear the mark and when you are strong enough avenge the deaths of our family, the Advisor commanded with the last of his life energy.

Spice was silent. He had his instructions. He removed the ring of office from the Advisor’s body. He was numb, never had the death of one close to him affected him this deeply before.

A loud crashing sound startled him out of his stupor, reminding him that the building still burned. He slipped the ring onto his finger and returned to his viper form. The serpent ascended the fireplace chimney and slipped out onto the roof. He escaped his former home by gliding silently over roofs and drains, careful to keep to the shadows. He paused on his way to the Dragon Mouth Bridge and tasted the air, he was being hunted. Confident that an opportunity to escape the Warren would present itself, he kept to the shadows and rested.

Chapter 2 – Ellestanya

From her chambers in the Obsidian Tower Ellestanya could see smoke and occasional flickers of flame from the fire that raged in the Warren. She stared at the fire intently with eyes that glowed an inhuman blue. She looked upon the fire with arcane sight and noted that there was minimal peripheral damage. The fire that consumed the buildings glowed brightly from more than just the flames. She mentally reviewed the spells she knew that could cause that specific type of flame.

The most prominent was fireball. From the level of damage it was doing, it had to be at least a journeyman sorcerer or wizard that had cast it. She suddenly exclaimed, Ruby Eyed! They used an ingress! in a voice loud enough to be heard outside her chamber.

Hearing the startled words of his student, the Wizard Durn’al entered her chambers to find her staring out the window at the fire in the distance. What is going on in here? He demanded.

The sorcerer who set that fire used an ingress! she said, excitedly.

Durn’al covered her eyes with his hands and broke the sight spell. He snapped, What are you doing?

Looking at the magic used to start that fire, she replied as she turned to face her trainer. He was of dwarven stock and one of the few she had ever seen that was narrower within the chest and shoulders than his fellows. He had wheat colored hair and intelligent brown eyes, which were currently snapping in irritation with her.

Why? he demanded.

The burn pattern was off, she replied as she returned her attention to the view. She had looked out over the Warren from this room every day since she first arrived at the tower to train, five annums ago.

This time Durn’al was confused. What? he replied sharply as he also faced the window.

Ellestanya pointed to the distant burning building. The burn pattern, hardly anything besides a few token buildings have been touched by the flames. The way the fire is burning, it could easily have taken a third of the Warren with it. There is a breeze from the sea. She pointed to the trees of Wizards Walk to her right, directing his attention to their moving branches. A fire that was natural in origin would be moving toward the East Harbor and us, her voice was steady and factual.

Durn’al sighed as he sat on the window seat. After a moment he shook his head and asked, What did you discover, aside from the ingress?

Ellestanya returned her gaze to the fire that reached for the sky, Fireball, at least a journeyman sorcerer or a cleric of Gar’ren; though that is less likely. That was all I could unravel from this distance.

Durn’al chuckled for a moment before he looked at his student and said, It appears that you need to leave the confines of the tower and practice.

Ellestanya whooped, and then blushed.

Durn’al smiled indulgently. Do not forget you are welcome to return to the Obsidian Tower at any time Journeyman Ellestanya, he told her.

Ellestanya bowed as she replied, Thank you Master Durn’al.

A word of advice, one wizard to another; tread softly with arcane sight while you are in cities. Your mastery of deciphering the spells you encounter may put you in harm’s way. If you absolutely feel the need, the closer you are to the source the less likely that your presence will be traceable. He said as he patted her arm.

Thank you Master, often I forget politics, when magic presents a mystery, she replied with a sigh. With a sharp nod Durn’al left her chambers.

By mid morning Elle was walking sedately through the Warren and toward the now smoldering fire. As she passed she paused for a moment to glance at the charred remains of the once proud building. Even the magnificent marble columns had cracked and tumbled. Looking at the damage to the columns she silently incanted arcane sight and gazed upon the building. Upon closer examination she determined that she’d been wrong; sort of.

A fireball spell had been used, but the spell that had caused this devastation was divine fire. Obviously her thought of a sorcerer or wizard had been wrong only a cleric could have caused this devastation. A Cleric of Loki, the god of dark magic, popped into her head as the probable caster, but that wasn’t necessarily correct.

She turned from the smoldering remains thankful that she had not become one of those mighty folk. She had not been certain why the Abbess had promised that she would be trained as a wizard and not as a cleric. Over the past annums she had been encouraged to learn more than the spells of her tower. Daily she thanked the Ruby Eyed, her goddess Lith’eh – mother of magic, for her path and for gifting her with Master Durn’al. She would not have become as strong as she was had she been forced to learn under any other master.

She blinked away the itch that arcane sight caused behind her eyeballs as she walked away. She was determined to explore the towers of Moonglow for as long as her gold held out. After hearing her great mother’s husband’s tales, she looked upon the towers with new eyes. She was Ellestanya Whitestone after all. It would not do to be ignorant of the towers or their secrets. A smile set itself to her lips as she continued through the Warren.

From a distance, black eyes watched the young woman stare at the remains of the 2nd Advisor’s building. The woman was a wizard and far too inexperienced to cast a long-range detection spell. Someone else had been curious, that threat needed to be addressed. The eyes turned their attention upon the Obsidian Tower. The lingering spell had come from there.

Elle was closing in on the Dragon mouth bridge, when she glanced to her right. It took her a moment to realize she was staring into beautiful green-eyes and that those eyes were attached to a very menacing mouth. Without sound from either of them, the large viper wrapped itself around her. It quickly hid under her robe and coiled itself around her waist. The serpents head rested on her left breast just over her heart.

Elle barely breathed as she called her familiar to her, a cute little viper she called Leo. He slowly appeared in his favorite place, around her neck. He was gold and black with light green eyes. His overall color was similar to the larger viper that was now wrapped around her. Leo hissed at the larger viper. To Elle it seemed the larger snake replied lazily. Her familiar licked her neck once and closed his eyes.

Well then, Elle sighed, as she started to move carefully forward. When there was no evidence of the larger snake’s displeasure at her movement she started to walk her regular pace. She ignored the warren guards. Their eyes scanned the faces of those behind her, as though looking for one person in particular.

By the time she was half way across the Dragon Mouth Bridge, she was unaccountably exhausted. Pretending to watch the water flow under the bridge she paused to catch her breath. After she was no longer winded she decided that finding lodging would be her first action. The question was where to go. Her options were the inns of the Ruby Tower and the Emerald Tower. As she was trying to consciously decide, her feet walked her to the 7th level garden of the Ebony tower. She stopped at the White Bridge gate. The levels of the Ebony Tower were in accessible, there had only ever been one Prime of the Tower and he was long departed to Garden City. According to his own tale, he had the entrances to the tower’s chambers sealed before he departed. At present the Ebony Tower was only used as passage ways to the Emerald Tower and to White Tower.

The Ebony tower side of White Bridge gate swung open for her without her having to unlatch it. She crossed the highest and narrowest of all the bridges of Moonglow, to White Tower and standing before the White Tower gate, she smiled to herself. After a moment of quiet remembrance she scribed her arcane mark onto the lock. As soon as she finished, the gate opened for her and allowed her access to the 9th level garden.

Finding a spot in the shade, she set her pack down and asked, Could you two please find elsewhere to sun yourselves?

Spice was content to stay where he was. At some point she’d discover he was wer-viper and realize that this was him. He unwound himself, slid off her waist and onto the lounging chair. He settled himself in the sun, content to rest for the first time since the fire.

Leo slipped down her arm, off her wrist, and went off to find lunch.

Finding a pleasant spot Elle allowed herself to relax and slowly drift off. It was several hours later when the smell of warm sausages woke her. As her eyes opened she realized she was starving. Then she realized there was a man sitting across from her drinking. She asked hopefully, Chilled cider?

Spice smirked at the wizard and nudged her tankard with his own.

Elle lifted her tankard in quiet salute before taking a long drink. She closed her eyes and let the chilled liquid flow down her throat. The spiced pear flavor exploded onto her tongue and she sighed contentedly. Is it presumptuous, or may I ask your name?

Spice replied with a smirk, Spice of the Warren, formerly 1st Lieutenant to the 2nd Advisor.

Formerly? she asked.

Spice’s eyes hardened as he replied, Yes, formerly.

The fire?

Spices eyes flared and he nodded once.

Well thank you for, she said as she looked around. You haven’t by chance seen a couple of snakes laying about have you?

The little one went hunting, Spice answered as he leaned into his chair.

The other, larger one? she asked, annoyed.

Haven’t seen any others, he replied.

I didn’t think the 8th or 9th levels of White Tower were occupied, she said as she watched him closely.

They aren’t, he replied.

Elle’s eyes narrowed for a moment before she relaxed and said, Oh you are a pick-lock.

Spice grinned again and said as he speared a rather juicy sausage, Actually, it’s politely termed a rogue.

Elle replied, I always forget that. You broke in? She asked as she stabbed her own sausage, enjoying the way the juices flowed down her knife.

No, he smirked as he took a bite of the sausage.

Then you lied, these levels are occupied, she smirked back to him.

Your sausage is getting cold, he replied evenly.

Elle glared at the man, and then shrugged, Fine, I’ll unravel the mystery later. Thank you for the sausages. With true delight she bit into her sausage as she grabbed a roll. Just as the juices were trying to escape the sausage, she tucked the spiced meat into the roll. With a contented sigh she enjoyed the warm sausages, the fresh bread and chilled cider; all her favorite things.

After she was content with food she continued to sip her chilled cider and stare at the man across from her. He had hazel eyes, messy gold brown hair and looked as though his height surpassed her own. After she finished her last tankard she said, You are the someone that has been following me from the Dragon Mouth Bridge.

Spice laughed and nodded his head.

Elle scowled at her empty tankard then stared at the young man across from her.

Spice refilled his tankard, then hers when she held it out. You are not shy, I’ll give you that. He said with a grin as he topped her up.

After taking another long cool drink she asked, Why were you following me?

How could I resist a young, beautiful, wizard making her way through the Warren just before dawn on the days of the full moon? He continued to smirk at her.

Elle rolled her eyes and said, Your lips misdirect with falsehoods, your reason picklock?

Spice’s eyes glittered and said, Only once did I see your lapis eyes and your young face. On all your trips through the traps of the Warren, not once did you forsake your path. Not once were you drawn from your goal and not once were you prey. He paused and took a drink, then looking into the clear liquid he said, I envied you your ability to focus solely upon your task and despite all calls for your attention, never deviate.

Elle stared into the hazel eyes of the man across from her and said, Discipline of mind is a wizard’s strongest attribute. If I were easily distracted or deterred from my goal, I would make a useless wizard and might as well strive only to be a sorcerer, her tone made clear her opinion of sorcerers.

Spice said, You have yet to introduce yourself.

Ellestanya Whitestone, Elle replied with relish. It was the first time she’d been able to introduce herself since she learned of her lineage.

Spice spit his cider out over the brazier causing the little flames to hiss and spit back at him. I thought she had no human children?

Elle winked at him and said, Seems popular belief was wrong.

How do you know? he asked.

Elle’s smile was wicked. I met her and she spoke of the one she believed was my great father, she answered with mischief in her eyes.

This time Spice killed the flame of the poor little brazier as he spit out his cider, She’s back? he choked out.

Elle’s grin was wide as she set her tankard down and said, Finish up, I’ll show you.

She’s here! he exclaimed as he stood suddenly.

Elle’s face softened as she said, Nay, she and Lorenthial left annums ago.

Spice just stared at the black haired woman across from him in surprise before he demanded, The Ranger lives still?

Elle chuckled as she stood. She held out her hand. Come I’ll show you.

Spice slipped his hand into hers and allowed her to pull him toward the gate. He looked around nervously as they left the 9th level of the White Tower via White Bridge. Anyone looking this direction would be able to make them out clearly. He breathed easier as they entered the Ebony Tower. His long legs easily kept up with her rapid pace. He frowned silently at her as she led them back to the White Tower and up to the 7th level.

Chapter 3 – Tammara

Tammara rested within the meeting chamber and breathed in the divine grace of the tower. It was not the touch of her god but the depth of the divine touch was etched into the stone around her. She had traveled for the past ten moons and only once had she rested in a place for longer than three days. She had chosen to rest within the Rose’s tower. She traveled to grow stronger in her grace through experience. She prayed for guidance and companions in the protective embrace of the White Tower, of Moonglow. It was the sound of a man’s voice that interrupted her prayers and caused uncharitable thoughts to pass through her heart.

Why didn’t we use the stairs? he asked in an irritated voice.

The man’s voice forced her eyes to open and her attention to focus on the striking couple as they entered the meeting chamber. They were nearly the same height and stood easily two heads taller than herself. The woman had ebony hair and her skin was sun touched. The man’s skin was a paler hue. He had brown hair and his most striking feature was a scar that started near his right ear, crossed under his eye, over his pale upper lip