The Fuller's Apprentice (The Chronicles of Tevenar Book 1) (40 page)

Ozor darted into Sar’s path. As the donkey swerved to dodge him, Ozor made a grab for his head and seized the bridle he was wearing. Sar reared and plunged, but Ozor clung tight. “Shoot the cat!” he bellowed to the bandits converging from every direction.

As they scrambled to string bows and nock arrows, Tobi left the woman’s still form and sprang at Ozor. A swipe of her great paw smashed into his head and knocked him sprawling.

Elkan threw himself at Sar. Gold light flickered out, catching the first arrow, then another. More arrows flew thick toward the mountain cat. “Run, Tobi!” Elkan cried. She sprang toward the ring of people. They scattered before her.

An arrow escaped Elkan and Sar’s guard and thudded into her back. She yowled and fell, tried to scramble to her feet, but failed, her hind legs refusing to support her.

“Stop!” yelled Elkan. The Mother’s power ripped bows from the hands of several bandits. Elkan and Sar pushed their way to Tobi’s side. “We’ve got her! She won’t harm anyone else.”

Josiah darted forward and crouched by Tobi’s head. She whined and tried to lick him.

Tereid loomed over them. His bow was gone, but he held his long knife threateningly. “I don’t trust you, wizard. What’s to stop you from killing us all, now you’re back with your beast? I say we kill you first. The donkey and boy, too, for good measure.”

Elkan didn’t take his eyes from the knife, his hand poised. “We won’t touch you except to defend ourselves. Let us go to the wounded.”

Tereid’s hand tightened on his knife. Behind Elkan, other bandits drew knives.

Josiah opened his mouth to warn Elkan, but he was addressing Tereid. “You saw what she did to Ozor. If you value your leader’s life—and your comrade, who’s even worse wounded—you’ll let us heal them.” He spread his empty hands. “I have no wish to harm any of you.”

Glancing to where Ozor had fallen, Tereid frowned. He looked suspiciously at Elkan. Though the wizard’s hand was no longer in contact with Sar, the donkey pressed against Elkan’s side. Raw whip welts striped his neck and flanks. The other bandits looked to Tereid for guidance, but he wavered, uncertainty flickering across his face.

“Are you with us, then, wizard?” Ozor struggled to sit up. He bled heavily from a gash on his scalp, and his voice was weak. “Are you ready to swear loyalty to us?”

Elkan’s eyes darted around, to Tobi, helpless on the ground, and Josiah by her head, to the wounded Ozor and the woman senseless beside him, and to the ring of bandits, many brandishing weapons, far more than he and Sar could hope to subdue.

No, Elkan!
Josiah wanted to shout. Surely they could break away and run for it. Elkan and Sar could shield them. But Tobi couldn’t move, and she was probably too heavy for them to lift and carry with the Mother’s power. Not at a run, while guarding them all from arrows.

Elkan nodded, curtly. “I am.”

Ozor rubbed his eyes, smearing blood across his face. “Say it.”

Elkan’s fingers clutched Sar’s mane, but his voice was steady. “I, Elkan, pledge my loyalty to you, Ozor. In the Mother’s name.”

Ozor nodded, falling back. He waved weakly to Tereid. “He’s one of us now. Let him work.”

Tereid glowered, but sheathed his knife. He backed away and gestured for the other bandits to do likewise.

With a quick look, Elkan conferred with Sar. He turned to Josiah. “Keep Tobi quiet. We’ll be with you as soon as we can.”

Josiah nodded. He stroked Tobi’s head in his lap. She whined weakly, her eyes remaining closed. It would be all right, Josiah reassured himself. It was just like last time. As soon as Elkan healed the people, he’d take care of Tobi and she’d be fine. But this arrow was buried much deeper than the other had been, protruding at a sharp angle close to her spine. Josiah bit back resentment that Elkan would choose to look after those murdering bandits first. He knew that to the wizard they were simply damaged bodies in need of care.

Elkan knelt by the unconscious woman. The Mother’s light poured over her, and her wounds mended themselves in its glow.

She stirred, but before she could speak Elkan and Sar shifted their attention to Ozor. As soon as his wounds vanished, the bandit leader climbed to his feet. He clasped Elkan’s hand and thumped him on the shoulder. “Welcome to our ranks, my friend. Already you’ve proven your value. A grand future awaits us.”

Elkan’s face remained neutral, but Josiah could read distaste in the set of his shoulders. As soon as he could without offending, Elkan freed himself from Ozor’s hands. “Excuse me, but we must tend Tobi.”

Ozor looked at Tobi, and his eyes narrowed. “You know this creature? That’s why you protected it?”

Tereid stepped forward. “It’s a wild beast, a danger to us all. Look what it did to you and Shonika! Let me finish it off.”

Elkan positioned himself between Tereid and Tobi. “She only attacked because she saw Sar being whipped. She believed he was in danger and tried to rescue him. She’s no ordinary animal.”

“Oh?” Ozor raised his eyebrows. “What is she, then?”

Elkan hesitated, but then plunged into the explanation. “She’s Mother-touched. That means she’s a potential familiar. She joined our party near Tathorlith; we were taking her back to Elathir so she could bond with an apprentice next spring. We sent her with another wizard, but she must have come to find us.”

Josiah hugged Tobi’s massive head close. She’d come looking for him. She knew he’d take better care of her than Kalti ever could. Silently he yelled at Ozor to quit interfering and let Elkan get busy healing her.

Ozor’s nodded slowly. “Excellent. She can be the boy’s familiar, and we’ll have two wizards. You do plan to swear your loyalty to us as well, don’t you, boy?”

Josiah froze, staring at Ozor in shock. Him a wizard, Tobi his familiar? It was as if Ozor had looked into his heart and read his most secret, impossible wish. But he couldn’t join the bandits! Not really, not more than the same pretense Elkan had offered.

Josiah swallowed and looked at Elkan. The wizard’s expression was dark and unreadable. His hands clenched to fists, one tangled in Sar’s mane. “Josiah’s not a member of the Wizards’ Guild. What you suggest isn’t permitted.”

“But you’re no longer bound by those arbitrary rules. There’s no reason you shouldn’t take him as your apprentice. No, wait.” Ozor held up a hand to stop Elkan from moving to Tobi’s side. “Let the boy make up his mind first.” Ozor looked appraisingly at Josiah. “Well? What do you say?”

Josiah couldn’t meet Elkan’s eyes. He bowed his head, studying Tobi. She whimpered in pain, but gazed back at him trustingly. He had to say yes. Then Ozor would let Elkan heal Tobi. After that… If Ozor insisted he and Tobi be bonded, Elkan would have to go along with it, wouldn’t he? Resisting would only reveal that Elkan’s vow to Ozor had been a sham, and if the bandit leader believed the wizard had betrayed him, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill him.

It wasn’t as if it would have to be permanent. Bonds could be broken; Elkan had told him so. Once the watchers and wizards came and captured Ozor and his band, Tobi could break their bond, if the Mother told her to. And if that day were long delayed, or never came, would it really be so bad, living among these folk? Nirel and Gan had told him they were good people, really, wanting only to build new lives for themselves. As a wizard, he could help them with that, so they wouldn’t need to steal anymore.

A wild, reckless joy flooded Josiah. “I’ll do it.” He looked up at Ozor, carefully avoiding Elkan’s gaze. “Now?”

Ozor nodded. “When better?”

Josiah cleared his throat. It was no more than Elkan had done, after all. His voice wavered, but he said the words fiercely anyway. “I, Josiah, pledge my loyalty to you, Ozor. In the Mother’s name,” he added, raising his chin and facing Elkan defiantly. Let him hear that, and understand that Josiah, like Elkan, was only doing what he must. Under the Mother’s name a compelled oath was no oath at all. Even though it was less their dire circumstances that compelled Josiah, and more the intensity of his desire for the offered reward.

Elkan closed his eyes briefly, his hand tightening in Sar’s mane. Then he moved briskly to Tobi’s side, the donkey close behind. “I was carrying a narrow, sharp knife when I was taken. If someone could return it to me…”

Ozor nodded. Tereid muttered, but turned and pushed his way through the crowd of onlookers. Elkan knelt beside Tobi, golden light washing from his hand. He murmured reassurances to her as he explored the extent of the injury.

Elkan drew in his breath sharply.

Josiah sat up straight, alarmed. “What?”

Elkan shook his head. “Keep her still. The arrow severed her spinal cord.”

Josiah gaped at him. “But… you can heal her, right?”

Elkan studied the shaft of the arrow protruding from Tobi’s back. “We’ll do what we can. Nerves
can
regrow naturally, so the process is there for the Mother’s power to work with, but only very slowly. Even accelerated as fast as we can push it, this is going to take a long time and a lot of energy.”

Tereid returned and extended Elkan’s knife to him. Elkan accepted it, wiped it on the edge of his tunic, and inserted it into the wound. Methodically he cut the arrow free. He laid aside the bloody knife and arrow, leaned more firmly against Sar, put both hands over the wound, and settled into deep concentration, golden light swathing Tobi.

The clustered bandits watched for a while, but as the minutes crept by, one by one they drifted away. At length only Ozor, Kabos, Tereid, Shonika, and Gan were left, though Josiah caught a glimpse of Nirel lurking behind a tree.

Ozor turned to Kabos. “Will you be able to set aside your differences with the wizard, now that he’s joined us?”

Kabos eyed Elkan darkly. “Just keep the boy away from my daughter.”

“Of course. Shonika, there will be no further need for you to work with the donkey. I believe we’ll have his full cooperation now.”

Shonika scowled but nodded.

“Tereid—”

“I know you take this business of swearing loyalty seriously, Ozor, but you can’t be sure they weren’t lying. They’ll probably run off at the first opportunity.”

“You’re right, of course. Although I do think they’re sincere, especially the boy. Stay and keep an eye on them. You know what to do if they prove treacherous. Bring them to me when the wizard finishes with the beast.” Ozor headed for his tent. “Gan, don’t you have work to do?”

Gan shrugged apologetically at Josiah and scurried off. Tereid dragged up a stool and settled into a relaxed sprawl leaning back against a tree. He didn’t take his eyes from Elkan. Josiah knew he could be on his feet in an instant.

Josiah stroked the soft fur of Tobi’s throat. He blinked back tears. “Just a bit longer, girl. Elkan and Sar will make you all better.”

It didn’t seem right to consider what it might mean if Ozor got his way and Elkan was forced to bond them, not with Tobi still hurt and Elkan so against it. But Josiah couldn’t help it. He watched the golden light pour from Elkan’s hand. What would it feel like, to be able to reach out with the Mother’s power and make things happen? How did a wizard do it, anyway? Did you just think what you wanted? Or was there more to it than that? Elkan would have to teach him, wouldn’t he? Maybe you had to pray to the Mother.

Josiah gulped. Elkan had said every wizard spoke with the Mother at their binding. Did that mean he’d have to, as well?

The healing was taking a long time. Sar and Elkan panted and sweated, drawing near the end of their strength, but Tobi’s hindquarters remained limp. At least she wasn’t bleeding any more, and the wound was mostly closed.

Elkan sat back on his heels, shaking his head. “Have to… take a break. Come back later.” He closed his eyes, took a deep gulp of air, and skin grew across the last open stretch of wound, leaving a pink hairless scar. Elkan’s hand fell, and the light dispersed. Tobi tried to climb to her feet, but yowled as her hind legs refused to function. She flopped back down, gazing at Elkan reproachfully.

“We’ve done all we can for now.” Elkan wiped sweat from his brow. “We’ll go back in after we rest. We accomplished a lot, but there’s still a long way to go.”

Josiah looked from Elkan to Tobi. Tired as the wizard was, he wasn’t nearly as drained as Josiah had seen him before. “You’re going to just leave her like this? She can’t move!”

“She’ll be all right. We’ll get help and move her to the tent. Tereid, could you give us a hand? Call Gan and maybe a few others. Have someone bring a blanket. We need to carry her to shelter.”

Tereid turned and shouted orders. Within minutes half a dozen bandits surrounded them. They rolled Tobi onto a makeshift stretcher and bore her over to where Gan had set up their own tent next to the stores tent. Josiah supposed Elkan wanted to keep a little energy in reserve in case their tenuous accord with the bandits erupted into violence again, but he was still resentful.

Ozor came to check on them as they settled Tobi in the stores tent, which was much larger than their own. Even so, it was a tight fit with Tobi and Sar both crowded into the space. Ozor frowned. “You weren’t able to heal her?”

“Not completely, yet. But we will, it will just take a few sessions. Maybe several days.”

“Oh.” Ozor looked at Josiah. “So, she and the boy…”

“Not until she’s fully healed.” Elkan’s face set stubbornly.

“Well, no rush.” Ozor shrugged off his disappointment with a genial smile. “We’d planned to move to a new camp, but we can hold off until she’s ready to travel. Keep me informed of your progress.”

Elkan nodded and Ozor left. Josiah hid his unwillingness to look at Elkan by jumping up with Gan to fetch their meal. Wouldn’t it make more sense to bond Tobi to him now, if it was going to happen anyway? That way Josiah and Tobi could use their energy to heal her, too. He guessed it was possible the binding itself might take energy, either from Elkan and Sar or from Tobi herself. In that case he agreed it should wait, so the healing could proceed as quickly as possible. Tobi was bearing up with her usual good cheer, but Josiah could tell her paralysis deeply distressed her.

But Josiah suspected that Elkan was merely stalling. He was clearly deeply set against bonding Josiah and Tobi. If Ozor was willing to accept this excuse, apparently Elkan was willing to use it.