Wielders of Magic, Book 2: The Trinity

"Hey Spencer, bring over four goblets and a bottle of wine, and also some ale! I'm paying!" Abhay called, waving his hand in the air before turning back to the companions, his bright blue eyes shinning with a smile of big teeth. "Normally, a wench would come and serve us, but you know, I am too classy for that."

"You said your friends name was . . . Rey DragonWing right?" Drusilla asked timely, sitting beside the Rey they knew. Blagdon was sitting across from them in the darkest corner possible, being as silent as a mouse.

"Oh yes, that is her." His smile disappeared. "You know she used to have wings, but they got taken from her a while back. A long while back."

"Oh my, same with me as well." Drusilla gasped.

"Were they burned off of you?" Abhay asked, his face oddly serious.

"Well . . . no. They were cut."

"Yes, well hers were burnt off of her. Her skin is ruined, and very sensitive to light. The only time she can take off the scarfs and gloves is at night, when the sun has set. She is quite scary to most people, but not to me." The man smiled a little, only one eye staring through his honey brown hair that fell down into his face.

"Are you two lovers?" Rey asked, his fingers touching their tips as his elbows rested on the table.

"No, never, we are like siblings." Abhay assured. "That ship sailed long ago. I have been married three times, they have all died of old age. Its getting rather annoying to me, and . . . I guess I just stopped. I could marry Ray, but you know? It just wouldn't work out. We are not those kinds of people to each other. We are . . . too close? Yes, too close to be lovers. We know each other to well, and you could say it is better than that."

"Oh, are you an elf?" Drusilla asked, her head tilting to the side. "Or some other kind of species?"

"Human." He said before snatching a drink off of the platter Spencer had brought over to them and chugging it down like a man in the desert. "And you?"

"I am of the Sky People." Drusilla stated.

"Half-elf." Rey said.

"And you?" Abhay asked, looking up from his cup and staring at Rentham as he sat in silence. "Drow? Part Drow?"

"No, I am not that." He chuckled a little and than looked around sort of insecurely. "Lets just say it is not favored around these parts."

"Drow aren't." The man persisted, scooting a goblet to him.

"I assure you, friend, that I am not Drow, nor part. I wish to keep it a secret." Rentham picked up the bottle of wine and poured himself and Rey a cup.

"Well, alright weirdo." Abhay chuckled and slugged down another cup of ale. "Whatever you say."

"Tell me more about Rey DragonWing please. Does she have any family?"

"Not that she knows. She had twin sons long ago, Reza and Tailen DragonWing, but after Aiden took over our kingdom, we haven't seen much of that part of our lives."

"Who is Aiden?" Rey asked.

"He is the son of the two people who started the Phentice Kingdom, in the Land of Dragons. Frankly, we don't know if our eternal life is passed down to them or not."

"Wait . . . slow down there. Eternal life? What are you talking about?" Rentham pursed his lips, his face twisting up in confusion.

"Alright, lets start from the beginning." Abhay set his glass down and pushed it away, clasping his hands together. "It all started with someone named Sharlett of the North. She had a protector named Garret the sixth and they rode out to the Plains were Ariana, daughter of Alvaric lay in wait for the men of the tribe to return. It was some strange tournament in some distant land. Meanwhile, I left the mountains and went to see her as well, because we were once lovers, and went on a quest or two of ourselves. The king banished me, so I was a wanderer, but I won't tell you all of that, its another story for another day. Anyway, they met up with her first and got the crazy idea to go start a new kingdom, because we were rebellious kids and wanted to do something wacky.

"I eventually made it to the Plains but than the king showed up and I made a hasty escape. Something about the Crystal of Light calling me to Ariana. You see, we each had a piece of it and it wanted to come together again. So we gathered together and I eventually agreed to go with them.

"Oh yes, Ray! Well, anyway, Ariana had a run in with her before any of us, because the sneaky bastard was trying to collect all of the element crystals and become the most powerful person on earth. Ariana knocked her out with her Crystal of Light after she tried to take it and we kinda just took her with us. She didn't like the idea much, but she came anyway after Sharlett said she would pay her in gold. We needed someone who could wield magic in our group I guess.

"After we were camping out for quite a bit, an assassin came after Ray because she had taken the Crystal of Darkness from the Drow Homeland. He wasn't a dark elf himself, but he was raised as one, and eventually Ray convinced him to come with us, which he took. You see, he didn't really even know anything, so she took it upon herself to be his guide. I guess they had a thing from the very beginning.

"After we were all together, you know, the magic six companions, we set out over the land and eventually found a broken old castle, which we took as our own and constructed to fit our needs. A tribe eventually showed up who wanted to join us, and we had a war between a bunch of crazy people and somehow survived. After that, Sharlett and Garret were married, and had a son later named Aiden. He was alright, and was going to marry Ray's niece who was from a brother of hers. That brother went away with a gal we had known for quite some time, but I guess her name has escaped me.

"They were going to be married, but we were thrown into another war and Sharlett and Garret, as well as Ray's niece were all killed in it. His heart turned cold, and he started to rule the people wrongly. But none the less, he was king, and we left because it wasn't a land of the free anymore." Abhay sighed and rested his head on his hand. "I had married Ariana, and we had a daughter named Maya. Ray married the Assassin, and they had the twins Reza and Tailen. They also adopted a kid that they named Fox. No one knows whats happened to him either. I guess we were just scattered to the wind.

"So back to the eternal life thing." He took another gulp of the fine, Dwarven meed. "When Garrett and Sharlett were married, we had a magic user show up who had helped us in the war. He said we could call him Nexi. He gave us each a wish, and Sharlett wished that we would live with eternal life, only unaffected by time, if we loved our little family. So as long as we love them, and remember them, we stay alive." Abhay shrugged, staring at them as they sat in silence. "Anything I missed?"

"I have heard of the Land of Dragons, but I have never been there." Rentham stated.

"Its a nice place, you know, except for when Aiden is in a bad mood. No one likes Aiden in a bad mood. He lost his heart long ago so he doesn't know anything important anymore." The man sighed. "I haven't seen my daughter in so long . . . last I heard she was being married to Tailen."

"Why don't you go visit her for a little bit, like for a few days?" Drusilla asked, sympathy crossing her face.

"Because, Aiden is a crazy bastard that's why. We have no idea what he will do to us if we come back. I know that he is not evil, but he just won't listen to reason anymore. I don't know . . ."

"Abhay." A voice called. Their heads turned and they saw Ray standing on the stare case, pointing to the entrance to the tavern. "Trouble, outside."

"Well, lets go take care of it than!" He smiled and stood up, drawing his short sword as the companions followed, hoping they could help with the situation.

"I couldn't help but notice that our names are the same." Rey said, coming to stand beside the woman as they left the building. "That could get a little confusing."

"Yes, it could." She replied. "But I do not believe we will stay together very long."

"I hope we will. After you are around the same few people, day after day after day, it gets a little boring around here. I am glad to find some mystery in a new fellow magic user." He stuck his hand out which she shook heartily. "We are the Rey's, don't you think?"

"Yes, we are the Ray's." Miss DragonWing stated as they chuckled, walking out into the street.

Two men were fighting, one a large half ogre looking person, and the other a simple looking man with nut brown hair and eyes.

"I'll teach you to-" The Half-Ogre shouted as the mans fist rammed into his jaw, making him spit blood. "-To dance around with my woman!"

"She is not your woman you blind fool!" The human said, taking a step back as he swayed. No doubt his opponent had landed a few powerful blows on him, and it looked like he couldn't take it much longer. "She doesn't want to be anyone's woman! Just leave her alone!"

The Half-Ogre screamed and punched the man in the face, throwing him three feet back and into a wet gutter. "Stay away from her!"

"Break it up, gentlemen!" Abhay shouted and walked in between them. The companions watched as the two men staid away from him as well, probably knowing the kind of devastation the rather short man could cause. Ray eventually joined him as well, eyeing both of the men with her strange gray eyes that just barely peeked below her dark cowl. "No more fighting, why can't you settle things through an arm wrestle, or lots, or bones!?"

"He doesn't deserve that kind of respect Abhay!" The human shouted, getting up out of the gutter and wiping off his clothes which were now stained with dirty water. "I am not usually one to start a fight, but he is just so unreasonable I could not resort to anything else!"

The Half-Ogre growled softly as his cronies backed him up, all looking as thick headed as the next. Abhay turned and looked them up and down, wondering if the man was correct. "Who started it?" He asked.

"He did." The human said, pointing.

Abhay turned, drawing his short sword and holding it to the mans throat as Ray let her fingers do a little dance in preparation for a spell. "Say your sorry."

"I'm . . . sorry." The Half-Ogre said with a hiss.

"Good boy. Now, if you ever start a fight again, we will come after you, and we will kill you. Because if you don't have a real legitimate reason for the next, there is no reason for your existence. Be respectable for once, and maybe your race would have a new title." Abhay put his sword away and Ray took a step back, folding her hands into her voluminous sleeves. They both bowed a little and than left the street, the companions following them back into the tavern.

"That was settled quickly." Drusilla said, walking beside the wanderer. "People must know you around these parts."

"They do, and they respect me." He grinned, looking over at Ray who rolled her eyes. "All except that trash can over there."

"You son of a half troll." She replied, her eyes flashing.

"Well at least I am not trash."

"Oh, but on the contrary my friend, you are indeed waste that needs to be disposed of."

"You see Ray, when you throw a brick at someone, you don't use pretty words. That's not what they are for. Bricks are not pretty."

"Mine are, idiot."

"Yeah, well they don't work. I think you are on your time of the month."

"I thought we had already established that I am not a woman nor a man. That boat and shipped away long ago."

"Like your face!" Suddenly he stopped, his eyes going wide as his throat made a sort of strangled sound. ". . . I mean-"

Ray lunged forward and grabbed him by his shirt, her raging eyes staring into his soul. "Go to the Abyss you . . . you . . .!" She let him go and walked quickly into the tavern, heading for her room once again.

"Ouch!" Rey stated, his teeth grinding together.

The fallen king held the door as his companions went inside. "Oh, and my people, we must have a meeting at dinner time. I have some things to discuss. Until then, do whatever you want. Meet back here by the setting of the sun."

"Oh, well I am going to go surf some book shops." Rey threw his hands up in the air and turned around, heading back out the door.

"Hey, I'll go with you!" Drusilla followed as well, both running quickly across the street as Rentham and Abhay went to sit down at a table.

Today had been a good day.