Rising of a Mage: Book 03 - A Mage Risen (10 page)

“Stop!”

Everyone turned to Navaeh. “Those aren’t fairies.”

Rundo was angry. “Of course
they’re fairies. Don’t you see them? What else could they be? They are going to save Mariah. We are going to make a fairy.”

“These are pixies. They cannot travel into the waiting. They are part human. They are enchantresses. They are the offspring of fairies and mortals. Do not listen to them
!”

A dozen
pixies grew to full size, grabbed hold of Navaeh, and began flapping their wings. Just as they lifted off the ground, Grundel released one of his axes, which cut the wings off two of the pixies. They screamed in pain as they fell the few feet back to the ground. The others dropped Mariah and flew away.

Anwar saw Grundel’s
enchanted axe go flying back to him. Anwar might not be able to access his magic here, but it seemed like magical items were still working. He tried to channel magic through his staff, firing a ball of energy at the pixie who was trying to lure Rundo away. It wasn’t a killing blast—just enough to stun her. His staff was an Al item, which, like other mage-created Al items, grew in power with its creator. That meant that even though he couldn’t draw on his magic he could draw on the magic of his staff, which was equal to his own. He sent a ring of energy out away from him, stunning pixies for a dozen feet in all directions.

“I am Anwar Alamira. I have come to see the
fairies. I do not want to hurt you, but if you do not let us go you will all die.”

The fairy
who had initially spoken with them came back into view. “Go, Anwar. We will not try to take you or your friends. Please, just leave us in peace.”

“How do we get to the fairies? Don’t lie to me. If you do
, you risk the life of my wife and for that I will hunt every one of you down.”

A new voice sounded a reply.
“You do not need to make threats. The pixies will not bother you again. Follow me. I will take you to the mother of fairies. She is expecting you.”

The words were music. They hadn’t even come out as words, but as music
; yet somehow Anwar had understood them. When he turned in the direction of its source, he saw it—a beautiful golden ball of light. Inside that light was the figure of what he thought was a small woman, but he could not be sure. The light was too bright and beautiful. Anwar knew instantly that this was a true fairy.

Cannen walked along next to the Black Dragon. The man was big, but not as big as he was. He was a trained fighter, though. He knew he didn’t have a chance straight up; his only hope was to surprise him. So when they turned onto a main street, Cannen took off running. He knew he wasn’t going to get away; he just needed the warrior to be focused on catching him. He made it maybe a dozen paces before he felt the man grab his arm. He immediately turned and drove his magically hardened knife into the man's chest. There was a slight resistance and then the blade buried to the hilt.

People were clearing out of the way. It was still early and the street wasn’t t
oo busy, but the people who were there moved away quickly. He might be a blacksmith, and that was an occupation that people held in high regard, but no one wanted to interfere with a Black Dragon. When they saw that the man in the black clothing was dead or dying they scattered. Being involved in the killing of one of the Dragons was a promise of death.

Cannen ran down the street
and turned back the way they had come. He didn’t stop as he ran past the blacksmith shop that he had just purchased. He would probably never set foot in there again. He turned at the next street and ran as fast as he could back to his brother’s house. If he could just make it back there he would be safe. He would have been safer if he had never set foot in the house, but now that he had, it was his only hope.

The Black Dragon guild had been after Anwar for years now
, ever since he had killed one of their mages in Kampar. Anwar had warded his house against intruders. Anyone who tried to enter the house with ill intent would be killed by the magic. Anwar had explained that common thieves and miscreants would just be shocked, but people who came into the house with the intent to harm anyone inside would be hit with a fatal blast of electricity. Anwar had quickly explained everything to him when he left him here, but all he had really got out of it was that he was safe inside the house.

He turned the last corner and was running straight for the front door when a man stepped in front of it. Of course they had left someone here. He rushed forward like he was going to try to tackle the man. The
Dragon stood waiting for him with a small club in his hand. He wasn’t going to kill him. They wanted him alive. At the last second Cannen changed direction. He dove through the window to the side of the door and came crashing down in the front room. The Dragon had tried to jump through the window after him, but a bolt of lightning had shot from the window, killing him instantly. His legs were still hanging out the window. Cannen went over and pushed the rest of his body out.

Cannen didn’t know what to do. He went through the house. There was enough food to last a couple of days. What would he do after that? He didn’t know
how he would get word to Anwar. That was his only hope. It seemed like every time he looked out the window there was another Black Dragon out there.

Vingaza was furious. The body of the
Dragon who had come to tell him that the brother of Anwar Alamira had escaped was lying on the ground in front of him. He shouldn’t have lost control of his emotions like that. He should have known the man would get away. He was Anwar’s brother, after all. The Black Dragon guild had been after Anwar for years. How had they never known that he had a brother? They had been careless. Anwar had changed his name to Alamira when he was elevated to the rank of master in the wizards’ guild in Kampar. Now the brother had escaped. But if he was anything like Anwar, there was one thing he could count on.

Vingaza walked out of his office. There were t
wo young Dragons waiting outside. “One of you get in there, and get that body out of my office before it starts to stink.”

He went and got his person
al assassins. They were brothers. “Malvagio, Cattivo. The blacksmith’s shop, the old one that the guard used to use. Go get the old man and anyone who works there. Bring them to the Alamira house.”

The two assassins never said a word. They just turned and walked out of the guild house. It was disturbing how silently they moved. Vingaza was suspicious of everyone. The Black Dragons were
, after all, called the children of chaos. It was not uncommon for them to murder each other. He had learned a long time ago to always have a shield up. He had even learned to maintain it in his sleep. There were three men in the world that made him feel like that shield wasn’t enough. Two of them worked for him. The other was Anwar Alamira.

The next time Cannen looked out the window he saw a Black Dragon
wizard. He wasn’t really sure what the difference between a mage and a wizard was. Anwar had explained it to him once. Something about a wizard being a general practitioner of magic, like a blacksmith who was able to work on everything. A mage was a wizard who had also risen to master at a certain form of magic, like a blacksmith who rose to swordsmith. He remembered that Anwar had become skilled as a mage in two things. He new one was enchanting. He wasn’t sure what the other was. He thought it was battle magic or traveling; he couldn’t remember. Either way it didn’t help him determine if the Black Dragon outside the house was a wizard or a mage. Everyone who wasn’t part of the magical community used the two words interchangeably anyway. It didn’t really matter. He had no way of fighting a wizard
or
a mage, and he couldn’t get away without help. He had to hope that somehow word would get to his brother before he starved to death in here. The wizard wasn’t going to wait for that, though. What he saw next proved that.

Vingaza had seen Anwar’s brother looking out the window. He had stood there waiting for Malvagio and Cattivo to arrive. When they did he was not disappointed. They had brought with them the old man and a teenage boy
from the smith. He nodded at the old man, and Malvagio held a knife to the man’s neck. “Cannen Callimorsi. Come out now!”

Malvagio didn’t even wait for him to finish speaking.
At Vingaza’s first word he ran his blade across the old man’s throat. Then came a gurgling sound as the man tried to breathe blood with his last seconds.

“Come out now or the boy dies with the old man.” Vingaza had learned that if you were going to use this card and you had two people
captive, it worked a lot faster if you killed one right away. Sure enough, the man came right out of the house with his hands up.

Cannen watched as they killed the old man. They hadn’t even given him a chance to come out first. He didn’t even
hear what the wizard said next; he was already on his way to the door. He took one step out and stopped. He had to try to get the boy away. “I’m out. Now let the boy go.” He took another step away from the door. “Your men can shoot me down if I try to run back in the house. Let the boy go and I will come with you willingly.”

Vingaza looked at Anwar’s brother. He did resemble him. They both had that big
, square forehead that overshadowed their eyes. Then he looked to Cattivo, who was holding the crying teenage boy. He kept trying to fall to the old man’s side but Cattivo held him upright. He nodded to Cattivo, and Cattivo buried his blade in the boy’s back. The blade went deep and punctured the boy’s heart. Vingaza had to admit they were efficient. It was part of what unnerved him.

Cannen watched as they killed the boy
, too. He had gotten them killed. He should have remembered. He never should have stayed in this house. His carelessness had gotten them killed. They had been so careful in Kampar. Only a very few people knew about the connection between him and Anwar. His first day in Ambar, and he had blown it. Now these two people had died for it. He tried to run back in the house but some kind of black ghostly tendrils wrapped around him. The tendrils led back to the wizard.

Vingaza carried Cannen in the air next to him as he walked down the streets of Ambar. To his credit
, Anwar’s brother was brave. He did not beg or make ridiculous statements about the lives of the innocent. He held his composure. The streets cleared before them. People ran inside their houses. Windows closed and doors were bolted. People moved out of the way for a Black Dragon. They ran in fear from a Black Dragon wizard.

When
the procession reached the city’s open square they stopped. This was always the most crowded area of Ambar. Foreign peddlers, dancers, singers, everyone came here to swindle others out of their money. The square was silent as a dozen Black Dragons ascended one of the stages. Vingaza followed. All eyes were on them now. “People of Ambar, you all know of the mage known as Anwar Alamira. Now know this. Anwar Alamira, in his arrogance, has chosen to challenge Delvidge, the great God of Chaos. This man you see before you is called Cannen. He is the brother of Anwar Alamira. Let this be a lesson to you all and the first punishment of many for Anwar’s defiance.”

Vingaza was about to puncture the man's heart with a tendril of dark energy when he saw him smile. “What do you find so funny about your last moment of life?”

“You don’t know, do you? Anwar didn’t challenge your god. He pulled him into the mortal plane. The other gods had to come and stop Anwar from killing him. Your god is afraid of him. Killing me only guarantees that the Black Dragons will be destroyed. My life for all of yours? That is a sacrifice I am happy to make.”

For the second time that day Vingaza lost his temper. He flung the tendril of dark magic out and severed the man's head. He released the body, and it fell to the ground next to the head, pouring blood all over the ground.

Vingaza walked back to the guild house. Sitting in his office, he fumed. The man was a fool. No mortal could challenge a god. Not even the Father could force a god onto the mortal plane. He knew it was impossible, but somehow there was a hint of doubt. It was such a ridiculous claim, but the man had spoken it with such surety. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be.

He pushed the though
t to the back of his mind. He had to get ready. They were already behind. They were supposed to leave to meet the orcs today, and this had taken longer than anticipated.

Anwar fallowed the beautiful ball of light through the trees. It wasn’t really light that surrounded her; it was something magical. It was like the essence of light. She was intoxicating. Or it, he wasn’t really sure. He didn’t know much about fairies.

They had walked for a long time. Finally they
entered a clearing. They could see the sky. Hundreds of balls of light flew all around the clearing. There were hundreds more in the trees. In the center of the clearing was the biggest tree any of them had ever seen. It was the Fairy Tree. The trunk itself was a hundred paces wide at the base, and the branches rose hundreds of feet into the air. The tree radiated a golden light, as if the tree was somehow made up of matter and light combined.

Floating
down from that tree was the brightest of the lights. The fairy in the light was the most magnificent of beings. It radiated love and happiness.