Chapter 19

Trae blinked to Guild Lord Robin Claws’ office.

Hilton took up the ear of the snail shaped island. It had jetties that ran for several kilometres down either side of the ear, located in several bays. Most of the industries were to the west side and the inner city was to the right. It was a large sprawling city with buildings as high as fifteen stories. It was home to nearly 800,000 people.

The outer villages were interspaced with small farms and estates for the rich. The hilly landscape climbed into the mountain range that ran both south-east and south-west along the head of the Island. The areas that had not been cleared still held sup-tropical forests.

The Guild Hall for Mages was located towards the centre and on the higher slopes of the hill in the middle of Hilton City. The Palace was located to its east. Both of the complexes had commanding views of the urban sprawl around them.

The first thing that upset Trae when he arrived at the gates was that he could just walk in unannounced. He felt no shields to protect the inhabitants of the school that was carved into three levels up the hill. While it was surrounded by a high iron topped rock fence, it and the open gates didn’t stop anyone from entering or leaving if they wished to.

He wandered around the school and noticed few people. No one challenged him being there. He did notice that many of the buildings were in need of repair and that some even had the doors boarded up. He had heard that there was a decline in the number of Mages, but he hadn’t realised it that it was so bad that the Hall was nearly deserted.

The only building that he found several people inside of was designated as a hospital for the poor. It was to his right and just inside the gate. He asked a woman in a long coat where he could find the Guild Lord. She made a negative sound and said, “The Lord, if she is receiving visitors, is in the top building.”

Trae thanked her, and after she walked away, he blinked to the building she had pointed at. He entered with no opposition and again found himself wandering the halls. At some time in its life, the building had been opulently appointed but it now looked shabby.

He touched a wall and was surprised when he found no repair spells. In fact, he found no spells on the building. He couldn’t help himself. He walked over to a large window, embedded a large crystal in its frame and did his favourite spells.

Each time he did them, they got easier and easier. He found he could pull the magic from around him as much, as he used from himself. With the crystals he always carried with him, he barely even noticed the loss of energy anymore.

As he continued to wander, he added a few more crystals. As he was going down one hallway that was wider than many of the others, he heard raised voices from the partially open door that he approached. They were a set of large ornate doors, and one had been left half open.

“Grandma, you have to do something. Please contact the new Lord of Eagle Island, he may be in a position to help us,” the soft voice pleaded.

“No, it is our duty to see to this island. If the Gods and Goddesses see fit to reward the Eagles then so be it,” replied an old but very cranky voice.

“Grandma, please. We are dying here. We have so many damaged items it is catastrophic. We haven’t taken in novices for years. The strongest are attending the University in the hope of getting some training. We can do more for those who can use some of their abilities without the aid of items.”

“Ruby, it is pointless like I told you. We don’t have any coin coming in other than what little we get from the hospital. It takes all of our resources, and I get sick of begging for handouts. Just let us die out as the will of the Gods have decreed,” Robin replied tiredly.

She felt that she was too tired and too old to care anymore. The last twenty years had been such a struggle that she just didn’t have the energy to go on. She had thought of handing the mantle to Ruby but she didn’t feel that she was doing her granddaughter any favours by doing so.

Trae stepped into the large office space. It had two desks in it. The smaller one was near the door and the larger one further back near the large glass folding doors at the rear of the room. To his right was a seating area with eight single comfortable seats around a low table. The two women were seated here.

“Perhaps I can help,” Trae said as he walked over to the two surprised women. “My name is Trae Quinton. Sorry, I haven’t been able to get here sooner but I have to either see a place or have been to it before I can transport myself to it.”

He sat, so he was facing the two women who were just staring at him opened mouthed. He smiled slightly, “I believe Guild Lord Alexander Aims should have sent you a letter telling you that I planned to visit.”

“Grandma?” queried Ruby.

The older woman gave a sour look. “I did get a letter that some new Mage would be visiting. Some nonsense about having new crystals. What sort of game are you playing young man? The crystal cavern was emptied nearly fifty years ago. They stopped growing a long time before that.”

“I don’t know how you hoodwinked this new Lord for Eagle Island, but you won’t get the better of me. You don’t have the aura of a Mage, you are a charlatan,” she growled out and then lifted her hands to perform a spell on him to restrain him so she could call for her guards.

“I wouldn’t do that Lord Robin. Lady Cutter taught me a small spell to hide my aura. She was of the opinion that now wasn’t the time to let all and sundry know who I was or what I was capable of. As for the crystals, I have found a new source and I control their distribution,” he said.

He reached into his fanny pack and pulled out a small bag. He tossed it to Ruby. Ruby squealed as she caught it. As soon as the fine cloth bag touched her fingers, she knew what was in it. Gingerly she opened the bag to confirm what she already knew.

She showed her Grandmother. “I knew there had to be substance to the rumours that we have heard. You yourself have said that you didn’t believe that items you wore would pass along.” She turned to Trae, “Does the new High Mage of Eagle Island wear the old items?”

Trae smiled, “Yes and no. I revamped them for him and was able to leave the old Lord with an item she found acceptable for her retirement. I believe most of the High Mages wear a similar set of items somewhat like Shield items. Are yours like that?”

Robin was still staring at the crystals. They were in their natural form and she could feel a strange power in them that she had not felt for a very long time. “Why are they charged the way they are?” she found herself asking as she looked up at Trae.

She and Ruby were both surprised by his faint blush. “Umm, well, those have been near me for some weeks, and it seems that when my wife Kat and I copulate, it changes the energy storage of the crystals near us,” he stammered out.

Ruby giggled and then laughed louder when her grandmother said, “Ah, that would be why I haven’t felt that sort of energy for many years.” Robin frowned at her granddaughter and said grumpily, “Don’t laugh girl, we all get old eventually.”

“Yes Grandma,” Ruby replied and tried to stop giggling. Trae also had to try to remove his smile.

Robin harrumphed and made her diadem and medallion visible for Trae. Trae nodded and thanked her. “Now it seems we have another problem here. Why are your numbers so few in Hilton? I came across more Mages and Novices in Wing City than I have since I have been here?”

The sour look came over Robin’s face again. She sighed and said, “Corruption, jealousy, greed and stupidity. About twenty-five years ago, Princess Teanna met a Shifter from Wolf Island. He was here on a trade mission, and the two became lovers.”

“At the time, Lord Carl de Ullina had been courting her. He had lost his spouse the year before in childbirth and had been actively pursuing Teanna ever since. I wasn’t sure of his motives, Teanna was nearly ninety at the time, and for all of her dalliances she had never had a child, and his son couldn’t inherit.”

“The affair with her young Prince had been going on for over a year when she announced that she was with child and wished to join with him. Rowena was horrified. It was bad enough that Teanna’s father had been part Shifter. She had been an unexpected pregnancy also.”

“Rowena didn’t want a possible heir that would be more Shifter than Pix. She told Teanna that she wouldn’t sanction the joining. Teanna however, wouldn’t be thwarted, and she married the young man in Wing City and stayed until the child was born and she was ready to travel. They were then going to go to Wolf Island.”

“The story is that the ship they were on was attacked by pirates. A naval vessel that was stationed at Pixville came upon the ships when the fighting was heavy and finally saw off the pirates. Teanna was seriously wounded in the fighting, and by the time she recovered, she learnt that her son and his father had both been killed.”

“She took many months to recover from her wounds, but I don’t believe she ever recovered from her broken heart. Some say that the loss of her husband and child also affected her mental stability. She would tell anyone who listened that they hadn’t been real pirates and it had all been a plot to kill her child.”

“She started a campaign and dug into many closets that people didn’t wish opened, in her search for those responsible. She had been quite gifted even though she only wore a two gemmed medallion. She managed to alter the cuffs that all Shields carry these days.”