The Magic Flute

Tahrl looked toward the middle of the practice floor where many of the Dryn were swarming about as if they were fighting against something or trying to hold something down. His gaze drifted away from the mass of people and settled upon two wooden staves. The cuts were raw and uneven where the first staff had been broken violently in two, and the second staff was a scattered mass of splinters and sharp edges as if it had exploded in someone's hands.

The mass of Dryn surged to the side, and several of them were thrown away from the pile. At the heart of the swarm, Tahrl could see Armada with a Dryn hanging onto each arm. She looked tiny compared to the Dryn that surrounded her. Her hands were clenched into fists, and there was a trace of red liquid between her fingers as if they had been badly cut. Armada let loose a cry that began as a gurgle and a growl and grew as she tried to swing her arms about and dislodge the other's grip.

Tahrl tried to call out her name. He could barely find any breath to use, and his throat felt utterly dry. His mouth opened and closed, but nothing more than a whisper escaped from between his lips.

Armada shouted words in the Dryn language that he could neither follow nor understand. Since he had taken charge of Highwall and the Dryn had arrived, he had put some effort into learning their language, but he could not keep up with the shouting going on around him. Armada wanted to be let go; that was clear enough. Tahrl did not need to translate the proper definitions of the words in-order to understand that. Armada wanted to be let go; she wanted to be let free.

Armada shouted something about death. No, it wasn't death. Tahrl realized she was saying that someone was dead, but he couldn't understand what she meant. Several of the Dryn stood back from the brawl, and they were spaced around the group, forming a circle. They would be the wizards among the Dryn who had agreed to teach the Kianan Soldiers at Highwall. Tahrl thought that it would take all of them to stand against Armada. She might be an incredible fighter, but she was still a wizard at heart. Chrystal who had little to none of a wizard's training was in the thick of the brawl and still clung to Armada' s arm. Chrystal and Armada liked to joke that she could take Armada two falls out of three. They also liked to joke that it was because Chrystal was the fighter and Armada was the wizard that they got along so intimately.

Tahrl shook his head and tried to stop his mind from wandering. Next to her mother, Armada was the most powerful wizard in all of Greenhaven. She had learned from the best. Alexander had lived with the Dryn since long before he had become a traveling minstrel and long before he had taken the name of Alexander. The Dryn all knew him as Delan, and he hated the magicians who now taught magic and had made certain that his daughter had received a proper wizard's training.

Armada shouted that he was dead. It didn't make sense. She had not used a name that Tahrl had been able to understand. He was trying to comprehend what was happening; it was like he didn't want to understand who she claimed was dead. He felt like he should be doing something to help and not just standing beside the practice floor watching Armada scream.