Fallen Magician (The Magician Rebellion) (11 page)

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It is a chill night,” Sane remarked as he surveyed the mountain city. The stone of the window frame was cold to the touch. “Winter will be upon us soon.”

Sari pulled her cloak tighter to hold off the cold of the night wind. She joined Sane by the window. It reminded her of the time they watched over Colum as the ogres attacked the city. Many lives were lost that night, but the ogres were defeated. She hoped that Everec would fare as well though the threat was much greater.

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You are in a dark mood tonight,” she observed.

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My thoughts have been dark for some time now,” he admitted. His voice was tinged with a hint of sadness. However, even Sane was unsure if his sadness stemmed from the loss of his sister or the realization that he wasted half his life in service of a kingdom that would never truly accept him.

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Marian told me that you have renounced your fealty to the king… and that you killed someone.” She slipped her hand into Sane’s icy palm. “Tell me what happened,” she told him, not unkindly.

Sane released a breath he did not realize he had been holding and let the wall he had carefully erected around himself fall away. For nearly forty years, he regarded Sari as a companion, a true friend, and at times in their long history as something more. He could hide nothing from her, nor would he ever consider trying. “It began a month ago when I heard a report of a cell of magicians being discovered and eradicated near Lion’s Landing,” Sane told the elf. He explained how he came to Everec looking for Byrn and found Marian Lightfoot mourning her son. Then Sane told her of his resolution to break ties with the kingdom and how he murdered the assassin who killed his sister. “I have been fooling myself for a long time, thinking that my obedience would mean a brighter future for other magicians somewhere down the road, but it is not true,” Sane said by way of an explanation for his actions, “Avelice knew it was a lie and so did her students that were murdered, only I was foolish enough not to see it. Marian thinks I was wrong for killing the man who murdered my sister, but I feel like I am only now just starting to see things as they truly are.

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I was motivated by grief and revenge at the time, but I do not regret killing Bertran even now. If I had nothing, then instead of being punished for his crimes, the assassin would have been rewarded for the deaths he caused, and to add insult to injury the reward would come from the man who will one day become king of Aurelia, and who I will one day be expected to bend my knee to. I could not allow that injustice to stand and I cannot allow Janus to become the next king.”

The elf sighed in acceptance as if this course of action had been clear to her all along. Cautiously, she warned Sane, “If you do this, you will be branded a traitor to the crown. There will be no safe harbor for you anywhere and the symbol of the kingdom being destroyed by a magician would only mean more difficult times for magicians in general.”

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Things cannot get much worse than they are now. The prince plans to make us all into mindless puppets forced to jump as he pulls our strings. I would prefer death to that.” Sane gave a short and tired laugh. He rubbed his eyes as if he was trying to banish the weariness he had been feeling of late. “But all hope is not lost. There is another member of the Aurel line who would be king if Janus was not in the way… and he is a magician.

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It was twenty one years ago and I was well ingratiated as a member of the king’s court at the time as the kingdom’s first free magician. Queen Wendi had given birth to a healthy baby boy. It was a difficult birth and the queen would never be able to carry another child again, but mother and child both survived and the kingdom rejoiced at the birth of the second prince for a full week.”

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Yes, I remember,” Sari cut in, “It was around the same time that I came to Aurelia following after you in search of adventure. The newborn prince died in his sleep as can happen occasionally with newborn humans. The news was followed by a month of mourning in the capital.” She stared at Sane intently and his face must have given away some clue as to what was about to come next, because Sari caught his eye and asked with some accusation, “The baby did not die. Did he?”

Sane forced a humorless smile. “No, he did not. The Aurel line is inclined towards magic. Long ago, they even had a magician in their line, King Fantyn Aurel, who eased restrictions on magicians during his reign, but ruled ruthlessly causing a backlash against magicians after his death. After Fantyn’s time every newborn child of the royal line was tested in secret for magical aptitude and any that were discovered were drowned. Their deaths would be covered up as accidents or determined to be of natural causes, but not this time.

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In her despair that she would never have another child, Queen Wendi convinced me to steal her baby away and put him somewhere that he would be safe before he would be drowned. I did as she asked and gave him to Kellen so that not even I would know where the baby prince was. The prince was replaced with another babe and no one was the wiser.”

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So if we go to Colum, then we can find out from Kellen where the child went from there,” Sari deduced. “This could turn out to be quite the adventure.” She paced back and forth with excitement, her earlier trepidation forgotten for the moment.

Sane grinned at the elf’s sudden shift in mood, and this time it was genuine. Sometimes her carefree attitude reminded him of a child, belying Sari’s true age. “There is no need, I have already found him. Byrn Lightfoot is the magician-prince. His heritage is the real reason he was forgiven for his prison escape and why King Kale made him a vassal of Warlord Nightwind. They hoped to bring him into the fold even if Byrn, himself, was unaware of his noble lineage.”

Sari stopped pacing and stood with her mouth agape. She started to say something twice, but stopped herself both times without uttering a word. Finally she decided, “I need a cold mug of beer,” but looking around the simple room could find none. Then another thought popped into her head and she wondered, “Does Marian know all of this?”

Sane shook his head in the negative. “Marian and I have never been on good terms,” he admitted, “and after I killed Bertran right in front of her… Well, let me just say I am surprised she did not sell me out to the Kenzai right then and there. I think she was still in shock at the time or she thought I was her only hope of finding Byrn. Not that it mattered much. We had barely left the inn that they were using as a headquarters when they discovered the dead assassin and raised the alarm.

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Using my magic, we could have escaped at any time, but we needed to remain in Lion’s Landing to see if we could find out anything about the woman who took Byrn. There is an unspoken bond between magicians and priests although their magic comes only from Ashura. Often times rogue magicians will mark transportation runes at or near the life temples giving them a safe and secluded place to transport to inside a city. It was my hope that someone at the Lion’s Landing temple would be able to tell me more about this mystery woman.

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Marian and I dodged in and out of alleyways to avoid the Kenzai as they searched for us. Their numbers were small enough that I had little to fear from any except the most advanced of their order, but I did not want to start a fight in the middle of the city and give any temple priests cause not to help me.

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It took the better part of the day to get to the temple safely, but once there I was able to find some clue as to the young woman’s identity. One of the priests knew the woman as Alia Necros and told me to seek her out in Marchess.”

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The old gambling town?” Sari asked incredulously, “I am rather surprised you did not come back for me!”

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You know that I would have if I could,” Sane said appeasingly. Sari knew the transportation spell had its limitations, so he did not have to convince her. “We returned to my keep in Mollifas ever so briefly so that I could collect everything I had of value before leaving for good without so much as a goodbye to King Kale.” Sane shook the pack that had been strapped to his back. “From there we were off to Marchess. We spent weeks searching for any sign of Byrn or his abductor, but came up with nothing.

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With our leads exhausted and Marian’s growing concern over the state of things here, I agreed to return her here and hoped to convince you to come with me instead. I may not be able to find Byrn, but I can spread the truth about him. It will seem as rumors at first, but it will spread throughout the kingdom like a raging wild fire. Then when I kill Janus, Byrn will be able to come forward and take his place at the king’s side whether I am the one to find him or not. He would be the only legitimate heir to the crown.” Sane spoke softly as he spoke the words that he knew were treasonous. A part of him thought he might be a madman, but he saw no other way.

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You will still be an outcast,” Sari warned him.

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I know. When everything is over, I think I would like to retire someplace far away from the kingdom like Raiden or Tempest.”

Sari considered what the magician said, “I cannot leave these people as an orcen army comes for them and I have a feeling that even if you refuse to support the kingdom any longer that you cannot leave these people to be killed. The orcs are coming with four thousand soldiers and we have two hundred. Councilor Aldyd sent a request to Silvering for more men, but without a missive from Marian they ignored our request and it is too late now for help to arrive in time. Besides if you are going to travel the countryside singing tales of the secret magician-prince and the plight of magicians, then you will need to make a name for yourself with the common folk and having the people of the mountains at your back is not a bad place to start.”

Sane looked out the tower window overlooking the mountain city once more, but this time he looked past the streets below and even beyond the walls that protected Everec. There was the faint glow of fire off in the distance that could only be the orcs coming steadily closer.

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They can’t win this fight with only two hundred men,” Sane mused, “The city will have to be abandoned.”

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Plans are in the works and Aldyd is making the case to Marian,” Sari assured him.

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Do you know why they are attacking?” Sane asked as he tried to estimate how long it would take them to get to Everec. The orcs would be upon these people soon.

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No idea. We only know they are killing any humans they come across as they approach and in addition to vastly superior numbers they are armed with siege weaponry. All of the mining colonies between the Dread Marsh and here have been plundered and razed.”

***

Donovan silently descended the stairway of the tower. He had followed Sari to make sure that the magician did not try to harm her, but what he heard was alarming to say the least. The sorcerer planned to kill Prince Janus and place a magician on the throne in his place. He would probably kill the king too while he was at it! To make matters worse, Sari, who he believed to be a trustworthy and noble woman, was in league with this man.

He had to do something, but what? They needed every able man and woman to fight back the coming orcs if there was any hope of survival. Maybe Donovan would get lucky and Sane would be killed in the coming conflict, but if not then he would have to be prepared to do whatever was necessary to ensure the safety of Aurelia.

As he left the tower and skulked across the grounds he headed for the barracks. Chance would be sleeping now, but he needed to hear of this. Then the two men could decide how to handle the magician together.

The cave entrance towered over them like the maw of a great beast and the sun rose in the eastern sky casting a long shadow over the magicians. It was Alia's rune, crafted years ago that brought them to this cave not far from Colum.

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I know this place,” Byrn told her placing his hand on the cave's wall as if he was testing it to make sure it was real. It was a piece of his past from a time that, although it was only a few years earlier, it felt like it was a lifetime away. “A pack of ogres used to live here. They always gave Colum a wide berth and we did the same with their cave. My father told me once that the guards would not attack it for fear that the cost of life of clearing them out would be too high, so we had to be content with the knowledge that as long as we left them alone, they would do the same for us.

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One day they were driven mad by a magician who held a grudge against Colum... or maybe just people in general and my hometown happened to be an easy target. That was the day that I first realized that I could wield magic. That was also the night that my life was changed forever. I ended up in Baj for accidentally killing nine people and the magician who set the attack in motion was never caught.”