Dragon's Tongue (The Demon Bound) Read Online Free PDF Page B

sing that one. He had such a wondrous voice.”
    Alaric smiled. “He also taught me The Battle of Brenhorn , The Dragon’s Tongue Key , The Mist in the Willows , White Maiden’t Lament, Down Among the Rushes … quite a lot more than I could name off the top of my head.”
    “That sounds like quite a noble collection,” Fenelon said. “And you are such a fine singer—ever write any music of your own?”
    “I wrote every stanza of The Ballad of Ronan Tey , though I can never sing it without wanting to cry…” Alaric blinked and looked aside. Horns, I’m drunk, I’m tired, and I am getting maudlin… “Can we go home now? I’m starting to feel a bit ill…”
    “Ah, then we’d best get you home post haste. Ever done a gate spell?”
    “No,” Alaric said.
    “Want to learn?” Fenelon said.
    “Is that allowed?” Alaric said. “You teaching me magic here on the streets and not strictured in some mage cell?”
    “Of course, it is,” Fenelon said with a laugh. “As a master mage, I have the authority to teach you any spell you want to learn.”
    “So what must I do?” Alaric asked.
    “Well, for the first time, you must take my hand.”
    Alaric cocked an uneasy eye at the appendage that stretched out to him.
    “Oh, come on, Alaric, don’t be such a prude,” Fenelon said. “Gate walking is a very complex bit of spell work, and before you can ever attempt one or even hope to learn the spell, you must first know what one feels like. Oh, and I will be cloaking the spell. Major spells are forbidden in the sleeping quarters, you know.”
    “And you don’t want Magister Turlough to know you’ve been breaking the rules again?” Alaric said with a suspicious squint and a hint more accusation than he intended.
    But Fenelon merely smiled. “You catch on very quickly, friend Alaric,” Fenelon said. “It is forbidden for any mage to gate in and out of the interior keeps of Dun Gealach—except in dire emergencies—without the permission of the High Mage. It is also forbidden to cloak such spells on the grounds they could mean the caster has treasonous intentions. However, we are merely sneaking in because it would be a disaster for both of us to be caught drunk. So do not even consider following my example. I get away with such things only because I know how, and because of who I am. Now take my hand and let’s get on with this.”
    At least, he’s honest . Alaric reached out and seized Fenelon’s hand and nearly stumbled in the process. “Now what?”
    “Close your eyes and let your mage senses touch me,” Fenelon said.
    Alaric obeyed, closing his eyes and stretching mage senses. He was jolted by the quicksilver essence that burned so bright within Fenelon.
    “ Geata foisgal …” Fenelon began, speaking the incantation in the mage tongue. The spell words were merely the tip of a magical iceberg. Alaric felt the essence pulled from everything, air, fire, earth and water. Felt the rich thrum of magic as it was woven into a single cloth. That cloth was shadowed by another spell, and Alaric realized if he were not inside the magic, feeling it as Fenelon did, he would never have known the spell was there. He opened his eyes, eager to witness the power at play. A rift opened before them, dexterously splitting the world into a mouth on end. Beyond it, Alaric saw his room. Then something brushed his mage senses and replaced his wonder with a whisper of unease. A sharp bitter tang invaded his tongue, not unlike what he had felt when the barmaid kissed him…
    Before he could ponder the sensation further, he was tugged forward but a few steps. The rough cobbles were replaced by the smoother stones and woven rushes of his own floor. Fenelon suddenly let go. The magic fell away, leaving Alaric with naught but the aftertaste of copper still lingering in his mouth.
    “Do gate spell always taste so foul?” he asked as he set the psaltery and its case on the table. He whispered “ Solus ” and a ball of mage