Rising of a Mage: Book 03 - A Mage Risen (29 page)

The smile he received was not that of the entertained parent of a toddler, but of a parent who was actually proud. “I am happy you saw through the threat. Too often men look too hard at the bear in the distance
, and they don’t see the snake at their feet. What becomes of you in the future will be your choice. I can help guide you to control your magic. I have been the Father and many other names for millennia and more.

“
I was once a very powerful wizard like you. It was a god who took me into his care and guided me so that I could control my power. Eventually he wanted more from me than I was willing to give. The gods all have their motives. Even the good ones use their disciples to push them above others. The abilities of mortals as powerful as we are should not be used in the politics of gods. It is just too dangerous for the mortal plane. I could have gone to the immortal plane as a god long ago. I would not leave this plane unprotected, though.

“
You are the first man to come along who has both power to challenge the gods, as well as a respect for life. You are the first man who may one day be able to take over the care of the mortal plane. That would allow me to move on. I felt it was only fair for you to see my potential gain in all of this. This burden I might one day ask you to take from me. I will help you regardless of what you choose. None of this would happen for years and years, and it is too early to even discuss.”

“I appreciate your attempt at giving me a choice,
” Anwar replied, “but I am not a complete fool. I know I need help controlling this power. Without help I will eventually lose control. The only real choice I have is you or one of the gods. They will not use me. I don’t doubt that you might try to use me to do what you see as right, but I believe your views are the closest to my own. I will go with you, but I’m sure you knew I would. That is, after all, why you left the message that you would be coming for me, and then gave me this time with my friends. You were giving me the time to say goodbye,” Anwar said, never looking at his friends.

“Wait, what?” Rundo asked. “You are leaving for good? We will never see you again
?”

The Father put a hand on Rundo’s shoulder. “Calm yourself
, little one. It will be sometime before your friend will be able to return to the world, but not so long that you will all be gone. You will very likely see him again one day.”

“Everyone
, relax. I knew what I needed to do the minute I heard what he had said to Jabaal and Rundo. I am going to go with him. You are all very important to me, but it is too hard for me to control all of this. I will not submit myself to the gods. They all have their own agendas. I cannot let my power be used to raise one god above another. The only option left to me is to go with the only man who knows how to help me. I will come back to see you all when I believe it is safe for me to do so. Until then, I must say goodbye.” Anwar had been preparing himself for this ever sinc
e
he found out about the
F
ather coming to stop him as he raged on with his magic during the battle. He had mentally prepared for leaving his friends
,
even if they hadn’t.
He took the time to hug each one of them, to tell each of them goodbye individually. After he had said his goodbyes
,
he turned
man who was his only hope. “I’m ready.”

The Father turned and faced the dwarves. “Thank you all for your hospitality
. Let me return it now.” A hundred barrels of ale appeared on the dais behind the head table. “That ale was a gift to me from the original dwarves of Evermount. I will let you decide how yours compares.” The dwarves cheered and began making their way to the dais. The Father held out his hand to Anwar.

Anwar looked to his friends. He had no idea what lay ahead of him, but he knew he could not stay here. He had to learn to control his power anyway so that he could challenge Delvidge. He would have his revenge. He nodded to his friends and took
the Father’s hand. Then they were gone.

Jabaal looked from Hellen to Grizzle. “I have something to tell you all also. I am going to leave with Hellen, and go to Freeman. I don’t know what I am going to do, but I am not a fighter anymore.
Hellen and I have started something and I can’t let that go. I have to see where it leads. Grizzle, you will always be my best friend, and if you should ever need me, all you have to do is send word.”

Grizzle hugged his friend. “Give me a couple more days. Let me give you your new leg before you leave. It is a flattened piece of metal. With a bow in it so it will have a little more bounce and act more like a real leg. The bottom of it will be flat so it won’t slip or stick in the ground like that peg.”

Jabaal looked at Hellen, who smiled. He turned back to Grizzle and nodded his agreement.

Grizzle looked to Rundo. “What about you
? What is the halfling druid going to do now that our merry little band is all broken up?”

“I was hoping to go with Grundel and take
back Shinestone,” Rundo said with a smile to Grundel.

Grizzle looked at Grundel accusingly. “Who says Grundel will be going to Shinestone? The war council hasn’t even convened yet
!”

“Well
, you are the new king of Evermount, so I only assumed you would have to stay and establish yourself as king. Grundel isn’t the king, and I don’t see anyone stopping him from going no matter who leads the war party. Seeing as Grundel is the only friend I really have left who is still going to be around and not cooped up in a mountain, I figure I will stick with him. That is if you don’t mind, Grundel?”

Jabaal just started laughing.

“What are you laughing at, then?” Grizzle asked.

“A giant dwarf
and a halfling druid going to take back a dwarven kingdom while the great Grizzle Stoneheart gets stuck on a throne? The gods really do have a sense of humor,” Jabaal said before he started laughing again.

“Ah, it ain't like it’s going to be exciting anyway. Whoever goes is ju
st going to clear whatever riffraff snuck in there thinking the place was deserted. It’s not like they’re gonna get a fight out of it,” Grizzle answered angrily.

Jabaal just laughed again. “As you say
, Your Highness.”

Grizzle just turned and stomped back up to the head ta
ble, where he filled his mug again.

Fredin walked through the tunnel that was the entrance to Shinestone. The mountain wasn’t nearly as fortified as Evermount. It was a small mountain. The entrance was a
simple twenty-foot-wide opening at the base of the mountain.

Gescheit walked along next to him. “The demon of the chaos god ruined a lot
, they are saying. They have cleared out the goblins and kobolds. Shinestone is yours. But there is still the issue of the other clan chief. We are only twelve thousand. The Narren claims five thousand of the twelve. It would be best if we were all Dungins. With the word of your son falling, your position is less safe. You will need another son. It would be good if we could get your grandson here as well. He is young, but he should be big enough to dissuade any challengers by the time you are old enough to have to worry.”

Fredin thought about that. He did need to get his grandson. They needed the women as well. Now that they had a home they needed to send for the women and children. Boys would not grow into fighters if women raised them. They needed the women anyway. They had lost too many numbers. They needed to start repopulating. They would send word to the other clans. Some of them would be taken up as weaker clans, but a lot of them would come to be part of the stronger clan that could protect them. Some would come just because they had taken one of the dwarven kingdoms. It wasn’t what he had hoped for
, but it would work for now. His numbers would continue to grow.

“Send for the wom
en and children. Tell them all to send to their old clan holds. I want these tunnels filled with the screams of babies by the end of the year. We will have many and more women. Each male will take two or three. The biggest from each group that comes will come to me,” Fredin told his advisor.

“I will have orcs running to each of the holds before the night falls. Where do you want the humans?
” Gescheit asked.

“
They will stay near me. We will find the old dwarf king’s chambers. If they are not destroyed I will take them. If they are I will find one of the halls and make it mine.”

Gescheit nodded and took off down the tunnels to relay his orders to the orcs.

Vingaza was impressed. Fredin had taken a huge hit at Evermount. No one could have predicted that Anwar had become so strong. The orcs who had escaped had been gathered up, and Fredin had organized them. There was still one other clan, but from the sound of it Fredin had plans to unite all the orcs under himself. Vingaza wasn’t excited about the prospect of staying with the orcs, but he didn’t have much of a choice.

All of the strongest Black Dragons were dead or running scared. He wouldn’t be able to show himself openly until he got a feel for things. He didn’t want to leave himself unprotected but he also needed to know what was going on. He would have to send Malvagio and Cattivo back to Ambar to find out what was happening. The orcs around him really weren’t a threat. Even Fredin couldn’t do anything to him. This was the safest place for him until he knew how the dwarves planned to retaliate, and what Anwar was going to do. That was the biggest question. He had killed Anwar’s brother.
Vingaza couldn’t fight Anwar and hope to survive, so his only option was to run. Being here in the mountain would allow him to escape if Anwar came. He would make his escape while Anwar was distracted with the orcs. If Anwar didn’t come, then Vingaza would help the orcs as best he could until he could come up with a plan to accomplish his goal: Vingaza was going to reestablish the Black Dragons.