Rise of Shadows (12 page)

“Thank you, but that really is not necessary,” I said.

“Oh, but it is. Besides, I have a wondrous library of spellbooks you must see. I am quite proud of it and would be offended if you did not at least visit it while you were here,” he said. He then went on and described other wonders he wanted me to see.

I knew I should argue and insist on leaving, but there was something about the way he talked. I could not help but be interested in what he was saying. As he was talking, the steel-eyed man brought me some raw aupessi, a rare delicacy and extremely expensive. The fish is native only to my homeworld and is my all-time favorite food. Back home I could hunt for them myself, but sadly I had not even seen one since I left to join Alpha Academy. I could not help myself when he gave me the fish. I dug right in. The fish tasted even better than I remembered. Eating helped to clear my head a little, and I felt a measure of healing from that simple act.

As I was eating my food, it occurred to me that I needed to be thinking about getting back to Shadow and the others. I finished my meal and stood to leave, when the old man said, “Ah, then, you are feeling better. Come this way.” He then walked towards the back of the room.

I did not move at first, but my curiosity was going wild from all the stories he had told me of what he wanted to show me. I looked back towards the door. There was nothing between me and the door, a simple sprint and I would be gone. Even as I thought this I felt myself almost involuntarily turning back towards the old man and starting to follow him. I just had to know what was in that library, and was there really an ocean just outside this room with aupessi swimming free?

I felt much stronger after eating the fish and quickly caught up with them. My head was a bit fuzzy again, but I figured that would pass in time. It did not take long to cross the room, and once we did the old man spoke a command word, and the back wall parted to reveal a beach with blue sand, just like home. As soon as I saw the ocean I sprinted past them and dove in. Oh, the freedom of the ocean! What a wondrous feeling! The cool water flowing into my lungs helped rejuvenate and clear my head.

I do not know how long I swam for, but eventually I returned to the beach. The two magi were not there, but they had left a couple of chairs and some drinks behind. There was no sign of the door we used to get here, nor any indication that there ever was a building of any kind. I found our tracks in the beach sand and followed them until they abruptly ended.

It must be hidden
, I thought to myself and then cast a reveal spell, which failed to reveal anything. Next I cast a spell that would give me heightened magical awareness, which should reveal anything that was either hidden or previously here, and still I could find no trace of the door I knew we came out of.

I wandered back to the chairs and relaxed for a short while, sipping on one of the drinks. As I rested there contemplating my situation, it dawned on me that I was stranded on a beach with no idea where I was and that I was completely at the mercy of whoever the strange magi were. They obviously were not working with the sorcerers, since they had just killed three of them, but I did not recall ever seeing them around Alpha Academy either.

The swim had done wonders for my head, and I could think clearly for the first time since falling through that gate. I looked around, knowing that I needed to find a way out of here before the magi returned. Something deep inside me was warning me that I could not trust them. I could not think of any reason why, but I learned long ago to trust my instincts. The beach I was on ran up against a forest that stretched away as far as I could see. In all my swimming I had not come across any other sign of land, so that was either an ocean or a massive lake. It had plenty of fish in it, so I could survive out there a long time if need be, but my goal was still to return to Shadow. I decided to follow the tree line for a while. If this was a populated planet, then a beach like this would be valuable, and at some point I should come across something.

After walking for a long while, I stopped to rest. Looking behind me I could no longer see the chairs, yet the scenery in either direction was unchanged. I decided to climb a tree and see if I could see any further. Once up in the tree I could see smoke rising in the distance.
Civilization!
I thought to myself, O
r a forest fire.
Either way, it was better than the endless hike I was on.

I pulled some darkness around myself to prevent being spotted by any predators that might be in the woods and recast my heightened awareness so that I had a chance of seeing those predators first. It took most of the rest of the day to reach the source of the smoke. As I approached the scene, my stomach dropped. There were bodies everywhere and what looked like burnt-out remains of primitive huts and small houses.

Looking from my vantage point hidden in the woods by both my cloaking spell and the deep darkness, I watched as a group of men dragged out a woman by the hair and threw her brutally on the ground. She was screaming at them as they spat and kicked her. I had seen enough and jumped out of the woods with a loud cry.

“Thyella pagou!” I called out as I landed and slammed my hands together in front of me with my arms stretched out towards the men. Suddenly a wall of razor-sharp ice shards flew from my hands and slammed into the men, forcing them to the ground in pain. Not wanting to lose my advantage, I cast it a second time as they tried to recover, causing a couple of them to fall a second time and stay down. One of the men called something out, and those that could stand ran off.

I moved quickly to the side of the woman, who had slipped into unconsciousness, and checked her wounds. My training as a first responder told me she would be okay but needed medical attention as soon as could be managed. I cast a spell to levitate her body and quickly headed into the woods before the men could come back with friends. Once I thought we had gone deep enough into the woods, I lowered her to the ground and treated her wounds as best I could. All I had to work with was some water in my canteen, so it was not much, but I was able to stop her bleeding and put her clothes back together in a more modest fashion than they had left her.

I put a cloak around our hiding spot and waited for her to come round. I could not leave her alone out here; there could be any number of dangerous beasts in these woods, and who knew if those men would come back? As I sat there keeping watch, I wondered about my current situation. Those dwellings were very primitive, and there was no sign of the normal technology that might be found in any town. In all my travels, I had never even heard of a place that was this backward. I wondered if it was some kind of commune or wacky religious outpost. The biggest question was: why was it attacked, and what had driven those men to brutally beat this woman?

She eventually woke with a start around first light. She tried to jump to her feet, but was too weak and ended up falling back.

“Please, take it easy,” I said. “You were hurt pretty badly yesterday.”

She looked very confused and responded in a language that sounded familiar, but I could not understand it. She was visibly upset, and I tried to comfort her again, but still she could not understand me. “Apokalypste glossa,” I quietly chanted to reveal her words to me.

“Please, relax,” I said, in her tongue now with the help of my spell.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“My name is Dusty. Please tell me what you remember?” I asked.

She seemed to relax a bit and said, “Last thing I remember is you coming out of the woods and creating an ice storm … you’re a wizard, I hope?”

“Yes,” I said trying to keep my voice as gentle as I could. I remembered from my first responder training that the key in a situation like this was to come across as gentle and meek to build trust.

“Well,” she said, as she pondered that a bit before continuing, “You came out, cast your spell, and that is all I remember.”

“That is pretty much what happened, except I had to cast it twice to convince them to run,” I said.

“What happened after that?” she asked.

“I brought you here, tended your wounds as best I could, and stood watch till now,” I said.

She looked at the sky and asked, “Is that sunrise, or sunset?”

“Sunrise,” I said.

“Were there any others alive?” she asked.

“I did not check. I had to get you to safety before they came back with help,” I said.

She managed to move over to a tree and used it to sit herself up. “Please, we must go back and see if any others are alive.”

I thought about that for a moment and had to admit that it was something I needed to do, but I could not leave her alone in this condition. “I would, but you can’t travel yet, and I dare not leave you alone,” I said.

“I will be fine here,” she said. “Please go.”

“What if those men come back? You are in no condition to deal with them,” I said.

“They won’t find me,” she said. “Go quickly, there may be others you can yet save.” After she said that she touched a ring on her finger, said a command word, and faded away. With my magically heightened senses I could still see her, but I knew she would be safe from any mundanes at least.

“Nice ring. Okay, stay here. I’ll bring food back with me,” I said.

She merely nodded and smiled. I wondered if speaking would break the spell, so I smiled back, and while pulling more darkness around myself I sprinted back the way I came.

While I ran, I wondered about what I was getting myself into. I had just rescued an unknown woman from unknown attackers in an unknown town. The woman apparently had a good understanding of magic and even had at least one magical ring. Based on all I knew, there was no reason I should trust her, but with nothing else to go on I was left to my instincts, and they told me that helping her was the right thing to do.

As I approached the town the smell of burnt flesh was overwhelming, and it became hard to control my stomach. I was suddenly glad that I had not eaten breakfast. In the town I saw a lone man dragging the last of the bodies into a big pile in the center of town. I watched for a while as he made a couple of piles of wood and other assorted objects, then set it on fire. I realized that he must be conducting some kind of funeral rite for the bodies, as he would hold his hand up and chant a brief message before setting a section of the pile on fire. I assumed that meant he was probably on the side of the town, and not the attackers. As soon as I thought he was finished, I came out of hiding to greet him.

“Greetings, sir,” I said as I stepped out of the woods.

He spun around and pulled out some kind of very long knife. It was probably a meter long, if not a bit more, and looked quite deadly. He looked like the kind of man who took pride in his strength and spent a lot of time in a gym working out. He stood a head taller than me, and his shoulders were significantly wider than my slender frame. He held the knife defensively in front of him and said, “Stay back!”

“Please, sir, I mean no harm,” I said and spread my empty hands out wide so that he could see that I was unarmed. Parrinians are built slender for swimming speed and as such do not look very impressive physically, which was a feature I hoped to exploit here. There was no way for a mundane to guess I was a wizard, so I should seem fairly weak to him.

“What do you want, then?” he demanded.

“Nothing. I merely came to see if there was anyone left that needed help,” I said.

He looked long and hard at me, and then said, “You’re not from around here.”

“That is correct,” I said. I figured that had to be obvious. “Look, if you do not mind, I would like to get some bandages, clothes, and food, and bring them back to …” I cut myself off, realizing I probably should not have said that.

“To whom?” he demanded.

“Someone else who is hurt and nearby,” I said, realizing it was now too late to hide it.

“Who?” he demanded again.

“I do not know her name, but she was attacked last night and is in need of help,” I said.

He eyed me up and down and thought for a while. I had nothing to fear from him, as there was enough distance between us for me to cast if he decided to charge with that big knife of his. I thought it best to let him think on the situation for at least a moment, but I eventually ran out of patience and said, “Look, you just go on with what you are doing. I’ll find what I can and leave you be.”

“Where did you find this woman?” he asked.

“Over there. Those three were attacking her,” I said, gesturing to the bodies of the attackers that had succumbed to my ice storm.
Idiot! Now he is going to wonder how you overpowered those men!
“Really, she is not in great shape. I do not have time for this. You obviously do not need help, so I will find some supplies and be on my way.”

He lowered his weapon and said, “Perhaps I can help you, then?”

His demeanor was softer now. “Do you have any food or medical supplies?” I asked. I was not sure I could trust him, but I needed help. If he was from this town, it would be faster to get help from him than to search the town.

“Yes, come with me,” he said as he put his weapon into some kind of case attached to a belt around his waist.

I followed him up into a house, keeping as much distance between us as I could. He rummaged through some cabinets and boxes, filling a bag with what he found. While he was looking I said, “She really could use some better clothes too. Hers did not fare well.”

“Go into the back room, look in the chest by the far wall, and take whatever you think will do,” he said.

Soon we had supplies and he said, “Let’s go. I can hunt for food after we reach her. These woods are no place for anyone to be alone.”

“Okay, then we head towards the rising sun for a while and we will reach a clearing surrounded by some very large trees that look just like these,” I said. “I passed a stream along the way. We should stop there for water.”

“I think know the clearing of which you speak,” he said as he grabbed a couple of jugs and started off.