Dragon Thief Box Set

Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

For the third time that day, I found myself being led by a different local and toward the plaza. The kerfuffle had died down with the flying thief and there wasn’t a soldier to be found. Life had resumed its course and gobs of people flowed through the aisles between the many, many stalls. The professor, however, was undeterred by the crowds as he marched through with all the air of a determined man. I struggled to keep up and was glad when he led us out of the market ring and onto the less busy shop streets to the south.

Still, I slowed to a stop as we left the boundary wall. “Are you sure he’s this way?”

The professor paused and glanced over his shoulder with a sly smile on his lips. “Quite. Now hurry along.”

My guide led me down a street filled with clothing shops. He turned us down a narrow alley between two stone buildings and toward a side door. We’d hardly gone a few steps when the portal opened, and Castle stepped out.

When he saw us, he appeared surprised and even a little worried, but a smooth smile slipped onto his lips as he shut the door behind him. “Good morning, professor. I see you have found a missing treasure.”

Impara stopped in front of him and scoffed. “Then you are a great fool to have lost track of such a valuable object, and in the hands of a woman who appears to be completely unfamiliar with the city and your habits.”

Castle shrugged. “I must be getting slow in my old age to have allowed a short thief to make off with the staff. The rascal was too small to be found in the market, so I tried to enlist my flying friend for a scout.”

Impara wrinkled his long nose. “And threw the whole of the market into a fluster. I nearly lost a good deal on a pair of frogs to the seller’s cowardice because of that rash decision.”

Castle studied our aged friend with curiosity. “How did you happen upon her?”

Impara nodded at my wrist. “One doesn’t walk around with such powerful magic and not be noticed by me.” He cast a curious look at my flute. “That, however, seems to have eluded my senses, which no doubt explains the failure of others to find it in a swift manner.”

“All is well that ends well,” Castle mused as he dropped his eyes to the blanket draped over Impara’s arm. A frown creased his lips. “Or have I spoken too soon?”

I held up the flute. “It’s this.”

Castle lifted an eyebrow. “It transformed once again?”

I, too, studied the magical object with confusion. “Yeah, but I don’t know why.”

“That is rather a simple explanation,” Impara spoke up as he nodded in the direction we had come. “But it’s best given at my home.”

“Too true,” Castle agreed as he set two fingers against the interior sides of his mouth. He gave a great whistle that pierced the air and tilted his head back. The pause wasn’t long as a familiar whinny replied. Ferox appeared at the mouth of the alley and stopped the carriage at the opening.

I noticed a problem, however. “But the carriage won’t fit three of us.”

Impara chuckled. “That is no dilemma for us. The Castle family isn’t the only ones with rather unique items in their possession.” He grabbed the sides of his pant legs and lifted them up to reveal the upper part of his shoes. A pair of wings were attached to each of the boots at about ankle-height. In the open air, they began to flap, and through their efforts, Impara was lifted off the ground. He dropped his pants and extinguished their flight, whereupon he held his hand out to me. “If I may.”

I blinked at him before I understood, and hurriedly removed his cloak. “Oh, yes, thank you so much for rescuing me.”

He bobbed his head up and down as he swung the cloak over his shoulders. “Nothing to it and nothing worth mentioning.” He lifted his pant legs again, and the wings were given fresh vigor. “I will see you there.”

And with that the wings flapped harder and shot him into the sky. He flew over the rooftops in the direction of the cistern and soon vanished from sight.

I turned to Castle and blinked at him. “Did I just see a guy use his shoes to fly off into the distance?”

He smiled and nodded. “Yes, but even here that isn’t that normal a sight.”

“So not everybody is hiding a pair of Air Hermes under their pant legs?” I guessed as we made our way to the carriage.

He lifted an eyebrow at me. “Hermes?”

I shook my head. “Something from where I come from. A god who could fly using wings on his heels.”

We reached the vehicle and I climbed aboard with Castle following behind me. Ferox flew us down the street, and I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder at the fleeting shadow of the Plaza.

“I’m sorry.”

I returned my attention to my companion and blinked at him. “What? Why?”

He stared ahead and his expression was a mixture of regret and self-reprimand. “For leaving you. I should not have done that.”

I smiled and shook my head. “Like you said, all’s well that ends well.”

Castle turned his head to face me, and those brilliant blue eyes examined me with a strange look in them. “You’re a guest in my world.” He cast his eyes downward and frowned. “No, more than that. You are my responsibility, and in the heat of the moment I failed you.”

I set a hand over his and offered him a smile. “All of this is my fault. I should have had a better grip on the stick.” I looked down at the flute and laughed. “I guess that’ll make it easier, and I don’t even have to hide it. Nobody’s going to want to take an instrument, especially when they hear me play it.”

My threat got a hint of a smile out of my companion. “You have no talent in that direction?”

I snorted. “Only if you count blowing over an empty bottle. I can do a few nursery rhymes over that.”

“You’ll have to show me that talent some day,” he teased as his eyes twinkled. “I would be most interested in hearing your defensive music.”

I turned the flute over in my hands as a question popped into my mind. “So, you found the Thief to tell him about the broom?”

He leaned back against the seat and sighed. “Yes, though the results are as the professor described, and you no doubt witnessed yourself. The crowds were thrown into a mixture of excitement and terror, and the guards were too numerous for him to land and try his luck on foot.” He dropped his gaze to the flute in my hand. “I imagine their increased numbers are because of the item in your possession. The emperor is no doubt hard put to lose such a valuable object, and even harder put not to know how it was taken.”

I looked down at the intricate markings on the flute. “So only that old guy can read these?”

Castle nodded. “Yes. Impara may appear to be a rather plain gentleman, but his mind is as sharp as a freshly wrought nail. If anyone can tell us about the staff, it’s him.”

The carriage soon rolled up to the cistern and Castle helped me out. We ventured back down to the shut door, and he wrapped hard on the metal surface. The noise hadn’t died away before a voice shouted at us through the door.

“Stop dawdling on my stoop and come in!”