Spell Fade (27 page)

Reginald. He was obviously the most imminent threat as Dartan noticed even Roal’s men had slowed their advance to watch the brute at work. He stood on top of the pile, feverishly poking his sword into cracks and crevices, bent on chopping up those responsible for his arm, then eating them bit by tasty bit from the end of an arrow.

“Come out!” the beast growled, followed by an unintelligible scream. He threw the sword aside and started moving rocks, tossing them over his shoulder and into the canyon below. He was not careful, or even picky, about what rocks he removed, and the pile began to shift under his feet. The remains of a previous slide, the pile ran all the way to the cliff’s edge, and Dartan wondered what it would take to push more of it over the side.

Reaching out, he could actually feel it. The desire to break free, continue its frozen path, and tumble through the air was almost palatable. All it would take was a little push.

All eyes were on the Troll now, but Dartan was watching the rocks. Here, now was his chance. The Troll lifted the largest rock he had found yet, and the toothy grin told Dartan that his friends had been uncovered. His mind already on his prize, Reginald absently twisted and swung his arms to toss the boulder over the edge. That was when Dartan pushed.

The gleeful rage on the Troll’s face changed almost instantly to confusion. The sliding rocks under his feet tipped his already off-balance body over. He landed hard, stunned for a moment, but his progression towards the cliff edge didn’t slow. He dug his hands in, looking for something solid, but everything was moving, and he was swept head first over the edge in a river of swiftly moving rock and dirt.

Rocks continued to spill over the ledge well after the Troll’s screams had faded, but it was the only movement in the otherwise still valley. Roal and his men stood rooted in place, staring at the empty space which only moments before had held a Troll. Dartan focused on the spot where the last boulder had been removed, waiting. Coaxed out by the silence, three heads cautiously rose out of the hole. Dartan caught Aliet’s eyes and returned the smile of relief he saw on her face. It was quickly erased for both of them.

“What are you idiots staring at?” Roal roared at his men. “Stop standing around and get them!” The command broke the paralysis gripping them, and the men scrambled to gather themselves. It wouldn’t take them long to cover the distance. Dartan needed to find a way to stop them.

He was still on the ground, near the cliff’s edge where Reginald had deposited him, and the wind from below suddenly blew past him. It picked up loose snow, sending it swirling in dizzying circles towards the advancing Northern force. It recalled to his mind the memory of a wide circle of leafless trees, and he smiled as he reached out to give the wind some encouragement.

The wind howled up from the canyon floor, sailed past Dartan, and blasted into the front line of men, pushing them back into the rest. Growing in intensity, it picked the men up, swirling them around like dancing snowflakes. They whirled and crashed into one another, only coming to a rest when Roal raised his wand and dispelled the wind.

“You!” Roal pointed his wand directly at Dartan, heading towards him. It was the first time Dartan had ever been threatened with a wand, or by a wizard for that matter. With the cliff’s edge behind him, Dartan had little choice other than to stand up, brush the snow from his clothes, and face the advancing wizard. “You did this. But how? You can’t be a wizard,” he insisted. “No one said anything about you being a wizard.”

“Technically,” Dartan said, “I’m still an apprentice.” Probably not the most threatening thing he could say, but he had no idea how to fight a wizard. Should he even bother drawing his sword?

“Apprentice?” Roal couldn’t get the word out without laughing. He adjusted his grip on the wand, keeping it pointed squarely at Dartan. “Where’s your wand, apprentice?”

“I don’t have one,” he said with a shrug.

Roal laughed again. “Pity,” he said, raising his wand to the sky. “You could have learned something from me, boy.”

Clouds gathered above, and a rumble of thunder rolled through the valley. A crackle of electricity filled the air, and Dartan experienced something not unlike what passed between Logan and the dragon. He could feel the lightning Roal was pulling down, almost hear it actually. More than anything, it wanted to streak down from the heavens and strike the earth below. Roal had to give very little to bring it down, but then he was directing it through his wand to force it on a path to Dartan. That part was taking much more force, because what it really wanted to do was go straight down into the ground. Dartan wondered, what if he just gave it a little help?

The lightning left the clouds and funneled into the upraised wand, which Roal then planned to unleash upon Dartan. He never got the chance. Dartan reached out and gave the captured power the little boost it needed to continue on its desired path.

It hit the ground mere inches from Roal’s feet, knocking him several meters through the air and onto his back.

“What I meant to say,” Dartan clarified, “is that I don’t need a wand.”

Roal’s men had detangled themselves from the pile they wound up in, but had not advanced. In the silence that followed, Dartan’s companions left the relative safety of the boulders and moved towards Dartan. Roal stirred.

“Get them!” Roal managed to croak. His men rustled and mumbled amongst themselves, but made no move. Roal sat up and pointed his wand at the group. “Now!” he commanded. “Or deal with me.” Smoking and disheveled on the ground or not, there was still a real fear of Roal among them. They drew their weapons and headed towards the small group. Roal looked back at Dartan, determined not to underestimate him again.

“I’ll handle the wizard,” Dartan said to his friends.

“We’ll take care of the rest,” Marcus added, drawing his sword. Aliet and Logan nodded in agreement and stood beside Marcus. “Stay close to Dartan,” Marcus said to Logan before they got too far away. “Know how to use one of these?” he asked, handing him a crossbow.

“Point and shoot, right?”

“Try not to point it at one of us,” Aliet said.

Logan fired a bolt into the closest man, dropping him to the ground dead. “I’ll do what I can.” He loaded another bolt and dropped back beside Dartan, who barely noticed. His eyes were fixed upon Roal.

“You know,” Dartan said to Roal, “you did teach me something.” Thunder rumbled above and the clang of clashing swords started to ring out as Marcus and Aliet began to dispatch the Northern mercenaries.

“Really?” Roal replied absently as he pushed himself up from the ground. “And what might that be?” A bolt of lightning came straight down from the clouds and hit next to Roal, knocking him back onto the ground.

“When it comes to nature,” Dartan answered, “keep it simple.”

Roal began to laugh while lying on his back, staring up into the sky. “Glad to have been of service to you,” he said. Thunder boomed again and Roal sat up. “Perhaps I could teach you one more lesson.”

“An apprentice is always eager to learn,” Dartan said with a smile.

Roal returned the smile and said, “Try this one.” He lifted a chain from around his neck, and Dartan caught a glimpse of some flat charm slipping into his palm, but he could feel nothing of its intentions. “Don’t play so close to the edge,” Roal growled, slamming his palm down to the ground. It sent a ripple through the ground towards Dartan, who still stood at the cliff’s edge. The buckling ground picked him up and threw him backwards through the air.

“Protect the King!” he heard Marcus yell. The cliff edge was falling from view and then he saw Logan dive over after him. It was the last thing he saw before his world went black.

Chapter Twenty-seven

The darkness dissolved slowly into swirling grey, which transitioned to blurred shapes, and eventually settled into lines and points on the ceiling above him. Where am I? How did I get here? The questions were his first thoughts as consciousness returned, and the memories followed. The box, the Troll, Roal, the Northern force, falling – what had he done? He had left them all above. He had left–

“Aliet!” he called out, sitting straight up. The darkness threatened to claim him again, his vision narrowing while his head swam. He was steadied by a firm hand on his back and chest.

“Easy now,” Logan’s voice calmed as his hands guided Dartan back to a lying position. “You landed pretty hard, and you’ve been out for a while.”

“How long?” he managed to ask.

“A few hours,” Logan guessed. “Maybe more.”

A few hours?! Instinctively, his body flexed, trying to sit up, but he let Logan restrain him when he felt the weakness return. “Whatever happened up there is long over. There’s nothing we can do now to change it.” Dartan relaxed and nodded his head slightly. Satisfied, Logan removed his hand from Dartan’s chest.

Dartan sighed heavily and cracked open his eyes. This time he immediately recognized where he was – the cave. But why was it so bright? “Where’s that light coming from?” he asked, raising a hand to shield his eyes.

Logan chuckled before replying, “You.” Dartan’s half-cocked eyebrow was enough of a question for him to continue. “It’s your trick, remember?”

Dartan lowered his hand and looked around. Logan was right. The light was coming from nothing other than the walls themselves. Strange. It didn’t feel like he was using magic.

“Actually, it’s how I knew you were alright,” Logan explained. “It started out so dim, I barely noticed it, but it’s grown steadily brighter. In fact,” he held a hand up to shield his own eyes as he looked towards the cave roof. “I’d say it’s still getting brighter. You must be getting stronger.” He held a hand out. “Want to try sitting up again?” Dartan nodded, grasping the offered hand. “Slowly this time,” he cautioned, and Dartan did his best to take his time.

There was only a slight tingle in the back of his head this time, and his vision remained clear. He was getting stronger. He looked at Logan, meeting his eyes for the first time since waking up. “You came after me,” he stated simply.

Logan smiled and nodded. “Of course,” he said. “But I don’t think I’ll take that way down anymore,” he added with a wink. “You didn’t provide nearly the same soft landing as the dragon.” Dartan shook his head and laughed lightly. “Besides,” he continued, “when Marcus tells you to stay close to someone, you’d better damn well do it.” The mention of his name brought a sadness to the room. The fact that they were still down here alone after so long spoke more loudly and clearly about what had occurred above than either of them cared to acknowledge.

“So,” Dartan said after clearing his throat and rubbing his eyes. “What happened?” He meant ‘after I fell’, but that’s not where Logan started.

“Roal cheated,” he said flatly.

“What?” It wasn’t what Dartan had expected. “I don’t understand. Cheated at what?”

“The duel,” Logan said, as if that explained everything. When realization did not dawn on Dartan’s face, he continued. “The battle between wizards. I’ve seen a few in my day, and you had him beaten. With his own spell! So, he cheated.”

“There are rules for a fight between wizards?” There was still so much he didn’t have a clue about. He felt as though he had grown up on an entirely different world.

Logan shook his head. “Not rules, so much as guidelines. Honor among wizards, if you will.”

“And Roal violated one of these guidelines?”

“Big time,” Logan agreed. “In fact, he may have broken one of the only actual rules.” Dartan’s eyes widened. “He used dragon magic.”

“How?”

“With a dragon scale, if I’m not mistaken.” The brief image of a small flat object in Roal’s hand flashed into Dartan’s mind, and he knew Logan was right. Logan leaned back as he continued speaking. “You never stood a chance. You had no way of knowing what was coming.”

He was right, again. Dartan had been completely blindsided by the spell. It had been nothing like the lightning, which he sensed at almost the same moment Roal decided to use it.

No. He shook his head. It was just another excuse. Excuses weren’t going to fix anything now.

“It’s probably best I don’t know the rules,” Dartan finally said. “If he’s not going to follow them, then I’m certainly not going to bother learning them.” He took a breath and a moment to calm himself. “What happened after I fell? While I was unconscious?”

“So, you don’t remember anything about the fall?” Logan asked cautiously. Dartan thought a moment, then shook his head. There was nothing but a blank spot in his head. “Then you’re telling me you have no memory of slowing your descent and landing softly, only to have me crush you onto the rocks when I landed on top of you?”

Dartan opened his mouth, scrunched his eyebrows, then clamped his mouth shut again.

“Good,” Logan said with a nod, “we’ll just skip that part then.”

“Wait,” Dartan interrupted. “I slowed myself down?”

“Yes, yes. It was very impressive,” Logan admitted with a dismissive wave of his hands. “Anyway, after we landed, I pulled you into the cave and hoped anyone looking over would assume we had both plummeted to our deaths.”

“And then?”

“Then?” Logan raised his eyebrows. “Then I stood guard at the mouth of the cave, hoping if anyone came looking, there would be less men than I had arrows.”

“That’s it?! You just stood here while they were up there? While she could have been…” Both men let out a surprised grunt as the light suddenly became painfully bright. Dartan took a few deep breaths, and the light gradually faded back to a tolerable level. Dartan kept his hands covering his eyes.

“I know she’s important to you,” Logan said quietly. “And don’t think staying put while I could only imagine what must be going on up there wasn’t the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Because it was.” He gave Dartan a small shove on the shoulder to emphasize the point, and Dartan gave him a small nod of agreement.

“What you have to realize,” Logan said, “is that while she is important to us, you are important to every man, woman, and child in this world.” Dartan didn’t move. “You do understand they both willingly risked their lives for you, right? I had to make sure whatever sacrifice they made up there was not in vain.”