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“Get off me, you fools!” the tripped shouted.
“You shouldn’t have tripped us then!”
And then’s when things got weird. Or should I say, magical.
One of the women balled her hand into a fist, but she didn’t swing. Instead, a bright glow of black light emanated out of her hand. She swatted her hand in front of her and the light flew forward like a shock wave. The darkness struck her compatriot in the face and bowled her over. She crashed onto her back and her legs swung up in the air.
The old woman rocked to and fro as her face turned red. “You. . .you. . .you filthy abyad!”
Her attacker laughed at her. “No abyad could dothatto you!”
The wronged woman balled her hand into a fist that glowed bright red and threw her own wave at the other woman. Unfortunately, her constant rocking meant her aim was off and the light struck the ‘leader’ of their small group in the back of the head. She was flung face-first into the dusty ground. Some of the errant waves swooped past and her toward us. Ben positioned me in front of himself and clamped his hands on my shoulders. The waves swept by and I felt a gentle caress of wind against my arms.
A deadly silence fell over the courtyard as the two other women stared in horror at their fallen compatriot. The one who had struck her managed to swing onto her butt and revealed her wide eyes. “A-Abla? A-are you alright?”
“You didn’t kill her, did you, Dania?” the other woman asked her.
Her companion shot her a dark look. “Of course not, Nadia! I didn’t put enough strength into it, not after that wretched Thaqiba ceremony!”
The limp form of their comrade shuddered, and the pair let out a gasp. Their wide eyes watched in fascination and fear as Abla climbed onto her arms. She jerked her head up and her face was a picture of fury. Her eyes had an unnatural blackness in them as she whipped her head about to glare at them.
“You fools!” she snapped as, in the same motion, she leapt to her feet and spun around. Both her hands glowed as she stood there trembling. “You abyad!”
Abla flung out her hands and dark orbs shot out. The balls flew into the stomachs of her cohorts and flung them backward. The pair skidded across the ground before they crash-landed against the low well wall. Soft groans floated out of their lips.
Abla stood triumph over their forms as she put her hands on her hips. “That’ll teach you to throw your magic around!”
CHAPTERNINE
I lookedup at Ben with a mixture of amusement and horror. “Maybe we should go ask someone else.”
Abla stiffened before she spun around to face us. She marched in our direction and wagged a finger at me. “Not yet! Not until I’ve earned that coin!”
Ben clutched the bag close to himself as she stopped before us. “Then you know where this Dakin is?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. “Of course I do. He’s just down that way.” She nodded at a narrow path to our left that led deeper into the sunken area of the city. “Take that for a mile and you’ll find some caves in the ground. He’s the third cave on the right.”
Ben smiled and dug into his coin bag. He tossed a baron at the woman who eagerly caught it in both hands. “Many thanks to you.”
He tucked the coin back into his pocket and guided me away from the carnage. The women were just waking up as Abla moved over to them and kicked them with her foot. “Come on! Get up, you abyad! We have some shopping to do!”
“Heathens. . .” Qita muttered as he led the way up the path.
The trail was so narrow that Ben took the middle of our group and I stayed on his heels. The ground was a mixture of upturned stone and stand, and I felt as though we were climbing over rubble to get through.
“So do I need to worry about getting hit over the head by a ball of magic or were we just lucky to see that fight?” I asked Ben as I stepped over a hole in the ground. It was filled with some unmentionable trash items.
“Magic is outlawed in much of the capital,” he explained as he turned to help me over a large stone. “The Huthala is the exception. Many of the dhaka reside there, so it’s to be expected that such fights would occasionally break out.”
“And the king is fine with that?” I wondered as I accepted his hand and let him guide me over the rock.
“He has little choice, as their numbers are quite formidable,” Ben explained as I dropped down beside me. He looked ahead of us and pursed his lips. “Though it appears he has an advantage over them now that he’s forced them through the Kneeling Stone ceremony.”
“What is this Kneeling Stone, anyway?” I wondered as we continued on our way. There was only the occasional door inset into the walls, but no windows.
Ben shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s a mystery to me, as well, as is this whole ceremony. I’m curious to know where Ramaal discovered the magic transfer process.”
“You think this Dakin might know?” I mused as the wall to our right began to change. The yellowed dried mud fell away and was replaced by solid natural stone. The ground, likewise, changed from sandstone to rock.
