The Reluctant Mage: Book One in the Zandar Series (11 page)

Over the weekend, Marko enjoyed his new status and lodging. As a white with an internship, he no longer had to work at the orphanage. Marko immediately celebrated by sleeping in each morning. It still felt weird wearing whites. He spent a fair amount of his time chatting with the other whites in the dormitory. Most were very welcoming given that he was elevated from a gray. They had seen his performance at the assessment with the army and had assumed that was the reason he was wearing whites. He did not feel comfortable telling them that he had secured an internship with a Major trading house.

He spent his afternoons sparring with Teacher Rakan. Rakan was every bit if not better than his Pa. He even knew all of the unarmed techniques Marko had learned. The teacher helped Marko to understand better how both armed and unarmed forms worked together. He came to realize that they were really extensions of each other. In a fight, you had to decide instantly what attack and defense was needed. Guess incorrectly and you would be injured or killed.

This was a nice supplement to his nocturnal instruction from Stranac. Stranac taught what to do, but Rakan added the “why” to the instruction. It was like Stranac was reading out of a book. Marko was not convinced that Stranac actually knew the “why” of fighting with steel.

Rakan said that most people who lost in a battle lost either due to fatigue, lack of technique or a limited knowledge of styles. He reinforced that all three can be improved upon. With regular study and practice, he claimed that a soldier would rarely lose a one on one fight with an opponent. Multiplying this competence with many soldiers increased their effectiveness exponentially.

His grief with the Imperial Army was that they only focused on one of the three areas. Infantry soldiers, he claimed, had excellent technique. They trained their forms daily. They were even in good physical shape when they enlisted. That is where it ended. Once a soldier was in the army for a while, they lost their edge. There was no mandatory physical training. Many soldiers became lazy. This resulted in unneeded deaths on the field of battle. Rakan said he saw firsthand when an Imperial soldier was stuck down not because they did not know their trade, but because they became too tired in a battle to deploy their training.

His biggest complaint was the limited techniques that comprised the training of a new soldier. Army High Command, it seemed, did not think that the ordinary soldier could learn advanced forms, including unarmed combat. Before he retired, Rakan did all he could to increase the depth of training for new recruits. He succeeded in getting some reforms in place, but he told Marko it fell woefully short. 

That night he “woke” as before in the chamber. This time there was a vague figure standing in the middle of the room. “Stranac?” Marko said as he cautiously walked forward.

“Who else would it be? Are you ready to get started? Today we are covering cavalry tactics as an offensive weapon.”

“But wait. I am not seeing you in a mirror. You look like a ghost, no offense.”

“Spirit, if you please. Not in the mirror you say? That is interesting indeed. Tell me. Have you been practicing during the day like we discussed?”

“Yes, even more so. I spar with Teacher Rakan each day for several hours. He is actually very good. He used to be an instructor in the Imperial Army.”

“And this teacher of yours. Did he say anything about your skill level, especially as compared with other students?”

“Well, he kinda doesn’t compliment too much. He says that I am better than other students at the Orphanage. He still beats me sometimes, but that is usually when I am trying something new. Lately I have been sparring against him unarmed. It forces me to be quicker since I don’t have any steel to block.”

“I see. It well may be that you are tapping into your reserve. Your need to raise your skill makes your mind look for gifts within you. For some people, it means they force themselves to relax their muscles. That allows them to be quicker. Still some use anger to become beserkers on the field. They won’t even notice wounds while in battle. They will simply fall unconscious in the middle of a swing.”

“Yet a very few can tap into a reserve their body produces. That would explain why it is easier for you to see me. You know you are not actually seeing me, right? You are just becoming more sensitive to my presence.”

“Sure. I know that I am dreaming you. I guess I have come to terms with the fact that you are actually in the necklace and talking to me. I don’t understand what you mean by reserve though. I told you before that I am not a mage. I have seen what one can do. That is not me.”

The shadow of Stranac seemed to sigh.
Unusual
, Marko thought.
He almost looks human
.

“I know you have not asked for this lesson, but I feel compelled at this point to enlighten you. That is not actually true.  I did not have the freedom to talk to you before about reserves. Now that I am sure you used yours, this path is open to me.”

“You see Marko, every living creature, including you, has what we call a reserve. It is the essence of life. Animals have it as well as plants. Humans have even more. It is what the creator gave us to sustain our lives. Ever wonder why a deer always seems to know when you are around and hunting it? Did you ever think about how an owl can see in the dark? Animals have used their essence for countless generations. Over time, it has become as natural as breathing. Take deer for example. They don’t have the best eyesight. They have learned over time however, that a keen sense of smell and hearing is the best defense from predators. Both senses have evolved with use of their tiny reserves. It is so tiny in fact, that they actually did not have enough. Something had to “give”. That is why deer do not have the best eyesight.”

“Now, let’s consider humans. We are the species with the largest reserve. You would think that we would be able to fly, run like the wind and be able to see for miles. That was not our path. Over hundreds of generations, we learned that intelligence was our key to survival. This required more essence than any of those skills. We permanently depleted our reserves so that we could outthink all other animals. Now, whether we did it by instinct or God guided us, that has been debated for centuries.”

“I think I follow you, but if humans depleted their reserve, why are there still mages?”

“That is an interesting story. Even the earliest recorded history spoke of mages. These were people that had some sort of disability. They may not have been able to walk, hold conversations with you or even grow into adults. These disabilities meant that they did not need to exhaust their reserves. Unfortunately, it meant that some caused terrible tragedies. Mages that were not mentally stable, would kill indiscriminately. This caused the Church to outlaw the use of magic outside of its control.”

“Is that why the Emperor broke away from the King? He did not want the Church to control mages?”

Stranac was silent for a moment. “Marko, I realize that we have not talked outside of practice much. I don’t know how long I have been in the necklace, but I can assure you that I know nothing of an Emperor or a King. I vaguely remember something of a Council, but that is all. Now where were we? Oh, yes, the Church and mages. Well the Church figured out that if they married a mage with a “normal” person, their offspring tended to have no magic. At the same time they showed no sign of their parent’s disability. This was thought to be the perfect solution. For many generations humans became more prosperous. We learned how to sail across the oceans, how to alternate crops to keep the land fertile and build cities that were clean and sustained thousands of people.”

“Then came Phos. He was the offspring of the most powerful mage of the time named Hera. Hera fell in love with a young priest who had just graduated from the seminary. Phos was a healthy baby and grew up to be an important figure in the Church. Phos was also a mage. There are stories about how Phos could put out wild fires and even work with earth to create houses for the less fortunate. Initially the Church feared Phos’ power, but eventually relented given that he was obviously a good hearted man.”

“Phos was gifted with a reserve that allowed him to be highly intelligent, yet have the capacity to work magic. All mages can trace their lineage back to Phos. Was he touched by the hand of God or just a fluke of nature? That has been debated for generations. The Church is convinced that Phos was just a random birth. Even though he ended up being one of the senior members of their church, they never considered his gift to be divine intervention. The Council of Mages, however, maintain that their ability to tap into reserves signified that God wanted man to evolve to some higher level.”

“If mages and the clergy disagreed about Phos, how did they get along?”

Stranac’s shadow lowered its head. “War.”   

When first day came around, Marko was ready. He had spent much of the previous day learning the location of the House Lazard compound. They actually had two. The main compound took half a mark to travel. It was at the top of Merchant’s Hill. The hill was just to the east of the Emperor’s palace. The palace sat on the largest hill in the city. The other nearby hills were the locations for the merchants, the military and the bankers. The mages, it seemed, only had a moderate presence in the city. Their main home was Comte University. There were other hills within Rau City, but they were covered in residences. Marko walked by one yesterday and noticed the street up from it was guarded by private security soldiers.

The second House compound was located at the banks of the Kupa River. He was told that there was a large port just outside of the city, were each house had a warehouse. He wanted to visit the area, but had run out of time over the weekend.

Marko made his way up to the compound after eating a light breakfast of toast and coffee. He had acquired a taste for coffee after only a few weeks at the orphanage. The streets were much busier than they were over the weekend. He was surprised by the number of wagons he saw heading both in and out of the city. He also walked by two bakeries that were clearly awake. The most delightful smells came from each. When his mouth started to water, Marko scolded himself for not eating a bigger breakfast. He had no idea if the House supplied meals. He only had a few coppers left over from his uncle. Marko had to guard them closely if they were to last until he got paid.

Finally, Marko walked up to the House Lazard compound. The property was nearly as large as the orphanage. It was ringed by a tall wall of gray river stone. The gate stood open with wagons coming and going. When he travelled to the compound earlier, the gates had been closed. Now he saw two guards in deep purple tunics standing on either side of the wide gates. A picture of a gold scale was embroidered on the chest of each man’s tunic. It was similar to the one Journeyman Pollet save that the Journeyman had a smaller symbol and it was over top left hand part of his chest.

As Marko approached one of the men, the man eyed Marko curiously. “We don’t see many orphans up here. What is your business with House Lazard?”

“This is my first day as an intern. I was told I would get a uniform once I start working for the House.”

“An orphan working for the House? You better not be making fun of me. I don’t have time for practical jokes.”

“Sorry, but I am being serious. My headmaster received a letter and read it to me. Journeyman Pollet came to our class and spoke to us.”

“Well at least you know the name of one of the young sirs. Anyway, it’s not my problem. Employees don’t enter by this gate. The main entrance is around the corner.”

“Thank you.” Marko turned to this right and walked along the House’s stone wall. At the corner he turned left onto a quieter street. He noticed that the street name was actually “Lazard”. He immediately noticed a difference. Whereas the other street was crowded with people and wagons, this one only had a few people. It was narrower than the other, and made from red brick cobblestones. About half way down the street was the entrance. It was a very large archway, at least twenty feet built out from the wall.

When he walked through the arch, he was standing in an open room that ran back to the wall of the compound. The floors were slate and the ceiling was made of colorful glass inserts that cast a breathtaking design on the floor.

“May I help you?” Marko looked up to see a young woman standing up behind a beautiful, ornate wooden desk. She wore a purple dress that ran down to the ground with a gold brooch in the form of a scale pinned to it. Her hair and eyes reminded him of Anne, the white from the girls’ orphanage.