Rogue Magician (The Magician Rebellion) (35 page)

“
I
believe that is also a trait of brothers or close friends,” Turshyn told her.

Then
Byrn told Avelice of all that had transpired since he left; from rescuing his
mother and Tian to being made a knight of the Warlord Nightwind. When he
finished he said, “What do you think I should do? If I stay I can help to teach
more magicians to control their powers, but if I have a warlord's ear and move
about Aurelia openly, then maybe I can help people to see us as more than
monsters.”

Avelice
thought on the decision for a while, but in the end she boiled it down to the
heart of the matter, as she was apt to do. She told Byrn, “As with any decision
there are advantages and disadvantages to whichever path you take. Know that
whatever you decide, you will always be welcome here if that is what you fear.
In the end you must decide what is it that you wish to do.”

Byrn
had not even considered this. He was more concerned with his obligations to
Avelice and fulfilling a perceived debt to the master necromancer rather than
giving any serious thought to the path he wished to take. Finally he said, “I
am not sure, but I still have a day to figure it out.”

***

Byrn
returned to Mollifas via his new rune to give Lord Nightwind his answer. The
decision was not an easy one to make, but in the end he decided to become a
vassal of the warlord and leave the establishment of the new school to Turshyn
and Mellani with the understanding that if they ever needed his assistance all
they had to do was send a summons and he would come.

As
he knelt before his new liege and swore loyalty to Warlord Ethiel Nightwind,
Byrn felt a knot tighten in his stomach. Lord Nightwind told him to rise and
clasped his new knight's hand in his own. Byrn was a little surprised at the
strength in his lord's hand. “I foresee a bright future for you, Sir Byrn
Lightfoot, knight-magician of the Western Province.”

The
Seahawk
docked in Lion's Landing
without notice in the middle of the night to unload its cargo. However, there
were no silks or food aboard. Nor were there any crates filled with weapons or
bars of iron. The only cargo the ship held was its passengers. A group of
twenty men and four dwarves, dressed in black cloaks, stepped onto the pier and
disappeared into the city as silently as they arrived.

Down
the main street the black clad Gilkame walked with similarly dressed humans
flanking him in a protective formation. Beside the dwarf walked a human with
fiery red hair and a pale complexion. The man glowered at Gilkame, but could
not bring himself to harm his master.

“
Frown
at me all you want, Mantellus Firekin,” Gilkame told him, “It does not bother
me. You belong to me now. You are nothing more than my puppet. The sooner you
accept that, the better.” They turned down a side street and black-cloaked men
followed not far behind them. “Cheer up, magician,” the dwarf continued, “soon
you will be able to cause all the destruction and death you wish. You will just
be doing it under my terms.”

Mantellus
screamed in his mind, since his mouth was unable to voice his rage without the
dwarf's permission. Every inch of his being willed his hand to raise and kill
Gilkame with a scorching blast of fire, but he could not manage to even lift a
finger. It was like the terror he felt while under the effects of Ryonus'
paralysis spell, but this was a thousand times worse as he had no hope that
this spell would ever fade.

The
collared magician knew their plan. The damnable prince and dwarf made no effort
to hide it from him. They thought it a funny joke that he would be used as a
weapon against his fellow magicians. Mantellus held no love for his magical
brothers and sisters, but resented having his free will removed so that he was
nothing more than a prisoner in his own body.

In
the coming days the black-cloaked warriors planned to secretly scour the city
looking for any clues that could lead to the whereabouts of Gilkame's missing
collar. Once their investigation was complete they would find the ones
responsible, recover the missing collar, and avenge the loss of Eryk Axebeard,
or if the responsible magicians could not be found, then Mantellus would be
released to raze Lion's Landing until it was nothing more than a charred husk
on the southern landscape either drawing the local magicians’ cell out of
hiding or reeking such destruction that any support the magicians had among the
commoners would dry up overnight.

***

Pillars
of smoke billowed into the sky as the city burned. The streets were thick with
clouds of ash choking the gathered magicians and guardsmen in the streets.
Before them stood the figure of an elementalist dressed in black. A fury of
fire raged from his fingers spraying at all around him in an attempt to consume
the world before him. Minnie coughed as smoked filled her lungs. It was
difficult to concentrate in the heat and smoke, but she valiantly held a
magical shield in place large enough to protect most of the assembled forces.

A
strong gust of wind blew in from the west clearing out most of the smoke
revealing Mellani in her blue magician’s robe as the source of the wind magic.
Minnie nodded in thanks and her sister waved back at her before returning to
directing gusts of wind in the direction of the fire elementalist blowing his
own flames back in his face.

“
We
need to keep him away from Avelice!” Turshyn shouted. He looked behind him to
see his master drawing a complicated rune large enough for a man to lie down
in. Turshyn thought himself an accomplished necromancer, but watching her
inscribe, he felt a strange power building and understood that whatever Avelice
was summoning would possess a power far greater than anything he had ever seen
before.

“
That
is the plan!” Minnie retorted. Her arms were outstretched as if she were
physically holding the shield in place and in a way she was. Her arms shook and
sweat ran down her face from the exertion of the spell as much as the heat.

“
Are
we seriously fighting alongside magicians?” one young guardsman asked his
commander in disbelief. His sword was held at the ready, but he seemed unsure
which of the magicians he should be going after.

“
Rush
that villain shooting fire if you wish,” said an older guard ten years his
comrade's senior, “but I intend to accept these magicians' aid as long as they
are offering it.”

Turshyn
sent a quartet of war wraiths after the rogue, but they did not last long as
the magician released a burst of flame all around him destroying the wraiths
all at once. “I expected that would have kept him busy for longer,” Turshyn
remarked as he immediately began to craft another spell.

As
if to show his displeasure, the elementalist began shooting fireballs at
Minnie's shield. She groaned with each impact as the strain of maintaining such
a large construct began to take its toll.

A
volley of arrows flew in on the magician's left side, but a blast of heat threw
them off target causing them to fall harmlessly to his right barely missing
Mellani. The enchantress jumped back into a nearby doorway and fell backwards
into the house behind her.

A
woman screamed from behind and a gruff voice said, “Be calm, wife! It is just a
girl, not that demon-man out there.”

“
At
least not yet,” the wife said clasping at her chest as if her heart was about
to burst out of it at any moment.

Mellani
turned to see the man and his wife huddled in the far corner with three
terrified young boys. None of them could have been over ten years of age. “I
mean you no harm. I am trying to help,” Mellani told them hoping to calm the
children, but before any of them could respond she was back out the door.

“
Do
not go out there!” Mellani heard the woman shout behind her, but the
enchantress did not turn or stop.

When
she exited the house Mellani saw that the elementalist was now much closer as
he was being backed into her direction. He was less than twenty feet away from
her. They were close enough that either could have easily struck the other with
an elemental spell.

A
gleam of light reflected off of the man's neck and for the first time Mellani
noticed the gold band around his throat. It was a control necklace just like
the one she had been outfitted with a month earlier. The bard, Tomlin, freed
her by taking the control rod and ordering her to remove her collar. Maybe she
could help this man in the same way. Mellani held her staff in front of her
face and said to the man, “Remove your necklace,” implanting a strong mental
suggestion. She lacked a control rod, but hoped that her abilities as an
enchantress would be enough for her to override the device if only just long
enough to get it off of his neck.

The
entranced elementalist turned to look at Mellani. His eyes were filled with
anger, but there was also sadness there. The elementalist lifted his hand, but
did not remove the collar. Instead he turned his hand palm out and threw a
fireball at Mellani throwing her back into the house.

She
could hear Turshyn scream in protest from somewhere outside and felt faintly
aware of him approaching, as his shouts got louder. Mellani looked at the burn
on her chest. The seared area was white, but it only hurt around the outside of
the injury where the skin was charred black.

The
woman of the house sprang into action. She told her children, “Go wet some rags
and bring them back here quickly.” The children ran to do as their mother
ordered.

Their
father pulled Mellani further into the relative safety of the house and his
wife shut the door. “It does not look like that demon is intent on finishing
you off. Thank Ashura,” she told Mellani soothingly locking eyes with the girl,
“Stay still. I know a bit of the old medicines and can keep you patched up
until the temple healers can get to you all proper like.”

Mellani
nodded and found she was in too much shock to articulate words or thoughts.

The
children returned with several wet rags that looked to be the remnants of old
clothing and gave them to their mother. She went to a pantry door and took out
what looked to be several spices and applied them to the wet rags rubbing them
in. Then the healer returned to Mellani and gently applied them to the burned
area. Mellani hissed at the sudden coolness against the seething burn, but settled
a moment later as she began to feel almost instantaneous relief.

“
That
is good. Stay calm,” the mother told her soothingly.

The
woman pressed the impromptu bandage against the wound very carefully trying to
avoid harming her patient. Her hands glided out from the center of the bandage
smoothing it flat against the damaged skin and pressing down on the edges to
seal the wound in. “Rest, child, this will hold you over for a while yet,” the
woman told her, “The burn is severe, but you will not die this day...” she
looked back to her front door, “...if your friends can handle that mad man.”

Mellani
tried to thank her, but could not muster her strength to even do that. The
woman took Mellani's hand in her own and squeezed it. It was the last thing
that Mellani saw before the need for rest overtook her.

***

The
ground shook under Avelice's feet and she jumped clear of the rune as a pillar
of water shot up from the spot where she had been standing. After the initial
burst the water still rose in the air, but slowed and coalesced into the form
of a half-man made of water. It was only the upper torso, but stood taller than
most human men. It looked to the master who summoned it and Avelice pointed at
the out of control fire magician. “Kill the fire elementalist in black,” she
said coolly. Then to the assembled magicians and guardsmen she shouted, “Clear
a path for the water elemental!”

The
guardsmen and Minnie ran for cover easily avoiding the water elemental as it
slithered on its liquid belly not unlike a snake toward its intended target.
However, Turshyn was locked in a death grip with the fire elementalist and if
he heard Avelice's warning, he was ignoring it. He held the man's right wrist
and was steadily draining the elementalist's life force while the mad magician
held Turshyn's other wrist and was burning the necromancer to the bone.

A
wall of water hit Turshyn from behind with enough force to make him lose his
grip on his foe. He was vaguely aware that he was inside the water elemental as
its liquid body pressed in all around him. Turshyn reflexively gasped for
breathe and inhaled a lung full of water before he had the shocking revelation
that he was drowning.

The
redheaded elementalist backed away from the water elemental hurling flames as
he went with little effect against the spirit's watery skin. It reached out
with a wet hand and shot a blast of water lifting the elementalist into the air
and throwing him into the wall of a nearby building. The elementalist crumpled
like a sheet of paper and fell to the ground.

Turshyn
kicked his legs inside the water spirit trying desperately to push himself to
the edge of the elemental's body and find a way out, but his struggling did no
good, as he seemed unable to move from the water elemental's central mass. His
mind raced as he tried to think of a spell that could hurt the spirit enough to
free him, but he could come up with nothing.