Warded Mage (Reawakening Saga) (13 page)

Thad cursed himself for his poor choice of words. Thad knew that anything he said denying his involvement with anyone wasn’t going to fly with Brianna. She was the type to stubbornly hold to her own suspicions. He had once seen her argue with another dwarf that he had made a flawed paring knife for her in the past. When another dwarf admitted to the poor work she still continued on with her argument saying, “That was a different knife.” Everyone knew that she was wrong but no matter what was said she held to her convictions. “She’s right even if she’s wrong,” was a common saying in the bar when dealing with Brianna. “I thought you didn’t care about my past,” Thad said in an overly dramatic tone. “I thought you only cared about my time with you.” Thad batted his eyes at Brianna, while trying his best not to laugh.

Brianna gave him a stern look then slowly shook her head.”
Ya never play fair, boyo.”

As the fire died down Thad drifted off to sleep with Brianna stuck uncomfortably to his arm.
In his dreams, Thad found himself back on Joan’s farm. From the look of everything, it was almost harvest time. He couldn’t see anyone around but just seeing the familiar setting put his mind at ease. The farm was the first place he had truly felt at ease. Joan had been as stern as any of the mothers at the academy but she had  a warmth to her the mothers lacked.

He had made his first enchanted item at the farm using broken tools and some spare crystals. They hadn’t been very strong but they had been an important step in his life. He had been so young and foolish back then
, telling himself to hide his magic but unable to stop himself from using it. Like any child with a new toy he had been too eager to play with it and show it off, so his resolve to hide it had quickly failed. Thinking about it the only reason he was able to stay out of the eye of the Brotherhood was most likely due to the fact he was hiding in the shadows afraid the queen would find him. Monique flashed through his mind for a brief moment. If anyone had attracted the Brotherhood’s attention it would have been her. A moment of fear raced through his heart as he imagined Monique in a cell being tortured by the Brotherhood but he quickly shook off the horrid thought. There was little use in being afraid for his friend when he had no way to find out how she was doing. The best he could do was to hope she was ok until he was in a position to check on her or help her if she was in need.

Thad jolted awake to Crusher
’s screams. Instinctively Thad built a magical shield around himself and grabbed for his sword as he jumped to his feet. His nerves relaxed when he noticed Brianna hunched over laughing as Crusher danced around as dozens of small things buzzed around him. It took Thad’s eyes and moment to clear enough for him to understand what was happening. For some reason a hive of bees were on the attack and Crusher was their intended target.

“That’s the last strike of the hammer
ya dang fairy. I know yer out there.” Crusher yelled at the sky in a roar of anger. “If ya don’t show yerself I am going to destroy every bird nest and egg I can find fer the rest of me life.” Crusher added picking up his axe.

Thad could no longer help himself as he wa
tched the burly dwarf jump and shout at the sky and he began to laugh. Not to be left out Avalanche bounced around barking at Crusher. Thad’s jubilation was cut short by a shrill laugh coming from his right. Turning his head he saw what appeared to be a young female child no more than five summers old. Her clothes were ragged and her long silver hair was tangled as if it hadn’t been washed or cared for in a long time. To Thad, she looked much like many of the street kids he had seen in his life.

“Mean
ol’ dwarf leave the birdies alone.” The child said in a light musical tone.

Thad watched as Crusher wrung the handle of his axe with his hand as he began stomping toward the child. Without thinking Thad moved in between his angry friend and the small girl. “Calm down Crusher she is just a child.” Thad said calmly.

To Thad’s surprise Crusher didn’t yell at him but laughed and pointed his axe toward the girl. “Don’t be fooled that dang Nadirie is probably three times older than yer mother. I thought we told ya Nadirie are known fer sneaking into towns and causing havoc in the guise of children.”

Thad felt small hands grip at the back of his armor, looking down he saw the small face of the Nadirie poke around his side to stare defian
tly at the dwarf as she used him as a shield. “I am a young maiden of only sixteen summers.” She said defiantly. Between the almost shy attitude of the Nadirie and blunt fierceness of the dwarf, Thad couldn’t help but break into a fit of laughter.

“
Ya wouldn’t think it was so funny if it were you that had bees put in yer bed.” Crusher said as he took a step toward Thad his axe still held firmly in his hands. From the side, Avalanche who had been enjoying the show lunged forward and clamped down on the stubborn dwarf’s ankle. “Ya dang mutt let go me foot.” Crusher yelled as he tried to shake Avalanche’s grip. Both Thad and the Nadirie began laughing when Crusher fell to the ground still trying to dislodge Avalanche.

Well after the sun was fully in the sky Thad was able to get everyone to calm down. Sitting around the camp everything still felt tense but at least no one was brandishing their weapons. Crusher was still eyeing the Nadirie dangerously who was still using Thad as a shield, in turn she was making childish faces at him. Every time Crusher started to go for his axe Avalanche would nip at his hand. Brianna continued to laugh at the exchange
, while Thad rubbed his temples, his head hurting from the constant strain of trying to get the two to calm down.

“Why don’t we start with someth
ing simple? What is your name?” Thad asked the small childlike Nadirie trying his best not to scowl.

“Arianna, my name is Arianna.”  The Nadirie exclaimed as if she we announcing herself as the queen of the world.

CHAPTER XVII

The past few days of travel
had been much livelier. Arianna got along well with Avalanche and rode on her back as if she were a war horse. Time to time, the Nadirie would shoot into the air and she and Avalanche would disappear for short periods of time. Crusher still did not seem happy with the new addition to their group but even if he was he would die before admitting it. Brianna seemed to take everything in stride, though it was obvious that she didn’t like it when Arianna grabbed him to use his as a shield. Thad himself was unsure how to treat Arianna; she looked like a child but was near his own age. Often he treated her of the age she looked and she enjoyed the attention from him. Brianna would often pull him aside by the arm angrily and grumble about him flirting with the “darned fairy.”

Though the trip had gotten much noisier Thad didn’t mind. He had spent too much time in the quiet lonely dept
hs of the earth. Even when Crusher and Avalanche were around he had no one to truly talk to since Crusher’s windpipe had been crushed at the time. Now he didn’t mind a little noise as long as it drove away the feeling of loneliness that had engulfed him during that time in his life. A clear picture of the dark room with his staff sitting in the corner flashed into his mind. Thad looked down at his staff and smiled. “Yes I still had you around, but all you did was complain,” Thad said silently in his mind.

A jolt of magical energy shot through Thad’s right arm. Thad looked down at his staff more amazed than mad. It had been the first time his staff had used any form of magical energy without his aid. He had spent hours in the past talking to his staff and
, in many ways he no longer considered it just a tool but a separate entity with its own mind. When he fought he no longer simply directed it but fought with it as if it was a companion. He had learned that the magical currents running through the world were more than a simple force that he could control. Each type of energy held its own form, use, and feeling toward it. Magical items were known to become self-aware, but he didn’t know they could act so independently. Was his own regard for the staff allowing it to use magic through his unconscious mind or was it truly doing it on its own power.

I don’t know
, the words reverberated in his mind like a small whisper, so soft they almost escaped his attention. “So you can speak now?” Thad asked his staff, his mind still whirling with the possibilities both good and bad.
No, you can finally hear me.
Thad looked around, Brianna and Crusher were walking at the front with Arianna riding Avalanche running around them. “It’s a little unnerving to talk to you,” Thad said nervously.
Why? I am you.

Thad stopped and looked at the staff in his hand. It was him. What did that mean?
Do you still not understand? All this time we have been linked
;
your thoughts, your magic, your fears, everything I have felt.
Thad took a tentative step forward then another trying not to let his unease show to the others. It made sense. He had kept the staff with him and relied on it heavily, especially during his time in the Underearth. His other magical items were only used when he needed them and he never had to pour his own magic into them, they worked off their own stored magical energy. His rings were a close second as they stayed on his fingers but he still never ran his own magic through them. “Was it the fact that he talked to his staff as if it were a person while he was alone in the Underearth, or because of the sheer amount of magical energy he had ran through the staff? There had to be more to it otherwise any magical item that used high levels of magical energy would gain awareness. Even items with low magical yield would start to gain awareness after a long period of time. Thad pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind, right now he had other worries, he could always investigate his staff, if he lived long enough to make it back to Farlan.

Picking up his pace Thad hurried to catch up to his companions. In only a few more days they should reach Handlane and he would be one step closer to getting home. It was getting harder and harder to consider Farlan his home. He had been raised there but he had only a few memories that he could consider good during his life there. He was worried about the princes and Eloen
, but he was sure they could take care of themselves. Monique was a different story; she was most likely in the most danger, if his feelings were right. Unlike the others she didn’t have a country to protect her nor, could she handle a blade well herself. Monique did have a few good guards, but those would be little aid should the Brotherhood come at her in force.

Thad twisted the ring on his finger that was the symbol of the Rose Company. Thad laughed lightly, when he met Monique h
e was still just a child. Looking back there were plenty of things he would have done differently but even so he didn’t regret his life until now. Everyone he had met and everything he had gone through, both good and bad, had made him who he was today.

You’re too nice to
women, you let them walk all over you.
The words echoed in his mind. They still felt like a whisper but even so he could feel the annoyance in the words. “If you’re me then you should feel the same.” Thad nearly shouted at his staff getting him a concerned look from Brianna.
I was created from your magic and thoughts but that doesn’t mean I see everything like you. Unlike you I see everything from the outside and from here you tend to act like an idiot around women.
Thad clinched his hand tightly around the shaft of the staff. He wanted to argue but in the end he knew it was the truth. He had a hard time dealing with women. He was raised to be their slave and no matter how much time passed he was sure he would always have a lingering urge to bend to their whims.

“What are you doing
ya dang brat?” Crusher yelled, startling Thad from his thoughts. Looking up Thad saw Crusher chasing after Arianna. He could always rely on those two to keep him from thinking too much. Laughing, Thad caught up to Brianna and silently walked next to her with a smile on his face.

Thad could not wait to reach the port town. He didn’t enjoy the
salty air nor the sticky feeling that it left on his skin. In town, he could get a hot bath, something he had been longing for the past few days. The stench from his body was starting to make it hard to sleep. Brianna did not seem to have a problem with his stench, but from his time with the dwarves, he learned that unless they were forced, most dwarves would go months without taking a good bath. Thankfully, Brianna enjoyed a good bath so he wasn’t forced to endure like he was with Crusher.

Something is coming.
The words were much louder in his mind than just a few moments before, and Thad got an anxious feeling from them. “What is it?”
I think it is the Brotherhood. There is an area up ahead where the magical energies are flowing oddly.
Thad closed his eyes and sent out his magic searching for the energies around him. He let his staff help guide him to the place it had found. His staff was right there was a blank spot as if all the magical energy simply vanished. He had seen areas before that were void of magical energy, it wasn’t all that uncommon, but this area was different. The magical energies around the area were flowing directly toward the area and then disappearing. Thad had to agree with his staff, it was most likely caused by one of the white swords that some of the Brotherhood carried.

Thad leaned down, “I believe there are some ambushers awaiting us a few hundred yards ahead.” Brianna simply nodded as her hand brushed the hilt of her weapon. “We need to find a way to warn Crusher and Arianna without bringing too much notice to ourselves in case were being watched.”

“Leave that ta me.” Brianna said a wide grin spreading across her face. Thad heard as she pulled in a deep breath. “You two blithering idiots need to stop romping around b’fer ya end up in the same situation that ya did with Gorgia a few years ago.” Crusher stopped in his tracks his eyes narrowing dangerously. Thad wasn’t sure what was going on but Crusher was much more alert and Thad could see his hand twitching excitedly near the hilt of his axe.

Though the air was tense, Thad couldn’t help but smile slightly to himself. He had found many of the rumors and myths about dwarves to be false
, but their love of axes seemed to be true. Logically it was the perfect weapon for their short and stout arms. It wasn’t as if axes were the only weapons he had seen the dwarves use, but swords seemed to be near useless in their hands. Before now, Thad had never given it much thought but he was sure it had to do with their thick wrists, making it hard to perform any real nimble maneuvers with such a slender weapon.

Why do you always think of pointless things at the wrong time? You
shouldn’t be worrying about what weapons your friends chose to use. I don’t know if you’re carefree or a simple an idiot who can’t keep him mind on track.
“I like to think I am curious by nature, though you might be right about not being able to keep my mind for wandering.” Thad said laughing at his own carelessness. Though he had only been aware of his staff for a short time, talking to it didn’t seem weird. In fact, it felt as natural as if he were talking to an old friend.

“What
da’ya think we’re facing?” Crusher said starting Thad slightly. Despite his size, the dwarf still had the ability to pop up on Thad, startling him whenever he let his guard down.

“I think the friends we met up with the other day have brought a few people and are awaiting our arrival up ahead.”

“Oh, I was wondering when our friends would pay us a visit. Rude of em’ ta keep us waiting fer so long.” Crusher said his excitement scaring Thad slightly.

“What about Arianna?” Thad asked slightly worried for the small Nadirie.

“No need to worry,” Crusher grunted. “That dang mutt of yers seems to understand what’s going on. Too smart fer its own good.” Thad looked over to see that just as Crusher had said Avalanche was no longer jumping around but walking much the way she did back in the Underearth when they were hunting the Vathari. Even with Crusher’s reassurance, Thad was slightly worried. Normal swords had little hope of scratching Avalanche but one of the white swords would cut through her easily.

As they drew closer to the area where the magical energy was obstructed the trees started to thicken and Thad began to run his fingers nervously over the scabbard of his sword. If it was the Brotherhood
, then he couldn’t rely on his magic, he would have to hope that his skill with a sword would be enough to keep him safe. He also had the blessings he received from the gods though he was still unsure about using them in a real battle. He had trained with his shadow walking and he was sure he could use it if needed but the stone skin still scared him, he didn’t fancy spending the rest of his life with a stone arm if he made a mistake.

Though the Brotherhood was trying to hide their presence, it was more than obvious that a large number of people were hiding among the trees. If Thad hadn’t known about it before hand he might have missed the obvious signs that littered the area but that hardly seemed to matter now that he did. The group
walked slowly, talking loudly, and waiting for their guests to make their appearance. After a while, Thad was starting to think that they were going to pass the whole group before the Brotherhood made their move. Shortly after the thought crossed his mind, a rush of men emerged from the trees and bushes. Far more than he had believed could hide in such an area. A quick count showed that they were faced against more than thirty soldiers of the Brotherhood. If they didn’t count Arianna than it was easily ten to one odds. Thad, Crusher, and Brianna stood close together their back nearly touching each other. Thad quickly looked around for Avalanche and Arianna. He found Avalanche rushing around as she always did when enemies were about but he couldn’t see Arianna anywhere.
She is flying above us.

“Can you tell which ones have the abnormal swords?” Thad asked his staff as he pulled his sword from its scabbard. The Brotherhood soldiers were advancing cautiously surrounding them.
I can’t tell which ones have it but it looks as if there are four altogether. If you let me control the direction of your magical attacks, I should be able to attack while dodging the blank zones.
It sounded like a good plan to him. If he had to time to focus, he could find the soldiers carrying the weapons but closing his eyes now would be the equivalent to suicide.

Trusting in his staff Thad pulled in a large amount of Fire energy and started to form it. A large or fancy attack would draw too much attention so they would have to be small and fast targeting areas where none of the Brotherhood had the magic eating swords.

Seeing that their prey were not surprised the soldiers stopped their advance and started to move cautiously. “Lay down your weapons and surrender to the justice of the Brotherhood, and we shall make your deaths quick and painless.” One of the soldiers yelled from amongst the group. The man was well dressed and wore armor that stood out among the others. If Thad had to guess, he was the leader of the band of soldiers they now faced.

“A quick death, who would take such an offer?
If yer gonna come, get in a line so I can send ya bastards ta the afterlife.” Crusher roared as he tapped the neck of his axe against his broad shoulder.

Crusher
’s blunt refusal wasn’t well received by the enemy who quickly began their advance, tightening the circle around the companions. Though it wasn’t long, the brief words exchanged had given Thad enough time to mold a sizeable amount of magical energy. Trusting his staff Thad formed over a dozen small balls of flame and released them to the guidance of his staff. The fireballs spread out speeding toward their targets forcing many of the Brotherhood soldiers to retreat backwards but as tightly packed, as they were, they jumbled over each other and were quickly caught by the flaming balls of magical energy.