Warded Mage (Reawakening Saga) (2 page)

Looking from the sword back to Crusher
, Thad nodded his head making his friend frown slightly. After a few tense moments Crusher shook his head and the patted his friend on the back and rolled his eyes as he jerked his head to the side and turned to leave the room. Thad took one last look at the sword then leaving it where it sat ran to follow his friend.

Crusher led Thad to the dwarf’s favorite watering hole, a small pub that served liquor stout enough that some of the blacksmiths used it to light their forges. Thad had never been much of a drinker, the few times when he was younger that he had tried wine it had left him feeling worse than any beating the queen had ordered for him, but Crusher h
ad left the mage little choice threatening to pour the brew down the man’s throat if he didn’t drink it. Drinking at the pub had become their nightly ritual, though today they were starting far earlier than usual.

As soon as they were seated at their usual table in the corner of the room
, Brianna, a young dwarven girl only slightly older than Thad appeared to take their order. “I see it’s the hardhead and me lovely little cutie. Bit early today aren’t we lads. Don’t tell me ya finally decided to take me up on me offer for a night of real fun, have ya laddie.” Brianna said placing her hands on her busty hips.

Thad had always
thought that dwarven women would look much like their men just with a larger chest, he couldn’t have been more wrong. Unlike their men, the females were much thinner though they still looked as if they could wrestle a wild boar and win. Brianna reminded Thad much of Eloen, she was brash, hotheaded and always spoke her mind, she was also quite fetching. At a little under five foot she had long brown hair and the deepest grey eyes Thad had ever seen. More than once Thad had thought about taking her up on the offer for a role in the hay, but something told him she was looking for more than just a little fun on the side, and Thad knew in the end he couldn’t give more to her than that.

“I’d love
fer ya to show me a good time Bri, just say when and I’ll ditch scrawny here.” Crusher said in his deep raspy voice.

Brianna slapped Crusher hard enough on the back of the head it reverberated throughout the room. “
Ya addlebrained son of a rockboar, I wasn’t talking to ya and ya darn well know it.”

“
Ya break me heart lass, to fix er up I’m gonna need twenty pints of yer finest sandai beer.” Crusher said giving Brianna a wink.

Brianna huffed loudly and turned back toward Thad. “I’ll bring
ya each a pint ta start ya off,” she said vehemently then ran her hand across Thad’s cheek, “and you think about me offer. One night with me and ya be forgetting all about those lassies back home boyo.”

As she walked away Brianna let her hips sway slightly. “Lad you should take
Bri up on her offer, she be a good lass for ya. I’d sell me last hammer if she’d look at me that way.” Crusher said watching the waitress as she walked away. “It’s not because she’s a dwarf now is it Thad.”

Thad let out a hearty laugh. “I honestly thought about it Crusher, but I got too much on my mi
nd to add another woman to it, and women like Brianna there tend to take up a lot of time and energy, which I just don’t have at the moment.”

“That
be the truth,” Crusher said laughing.

CHAPTER II

Thad woke early the next morning with his head screaming. He had drunk way more than was wise the previous night but Crusher had been more than a little insistent that they celebrate the completion of his weapon and for some reason that included trying to drink the bar out of beer. His stomach churning Thad made his way to the small basin of water that he kept in his room and began splashing cold water on his face in hopes of clearing his mind or at least keep it from banging so hard.

Turning around Thad’s eyes fell to the sword that now hung in its new scabbard on the wall. With his head still trying to break free of the rest of his body
, Thad sat down heavily on the edge of the bed and placed his hands around his ears in attempt to help ease the pain. As soon as everything began to settle down a loud knock resounded making the thumping in his head redouble its efforts in driving him mad.

Slowly Thad got to his feet and inched
toward the door. The old hinges creaked sending slivers of pain into his mind as it opened. A grey beaded dwarf stood on the other side of the wooden portal his wrinkled face smiling brightly. “I heard you finished your sword. Guess that means ya be headed ta go talk ta those goblin loving Vathari?” Grenlor asked half in jest.

“I was planning on leaving today but thanks to Crusher my head feels like someone used it as an anvil all night long.” Thad said wincing with every word.

Grenlor laughed loudly causing more pain to erupt throughout Thad’s body. “A few more years of some fine dwarven brew and it won’t even bother ya lad.” Grenlor said as he reached inside his pocket pulling out a silver flask. “Take a swig of this; it’ll stop some of the racket rattling around in that noggin of yours.”

Thad took the offered f
lask and took a quick swig. Whatever was inside burned like acid as it made its way down his throat but as promised, the pounding in his head lessened to a dull roar after a few moments. “I was planning on visiting you later in the day Grenlor.”

“I figured as much lad, so I figured I’d save
ya the trouble and make my way over ta see ya meself. You still planning to go talk to that mage friend of yours I take it.”

Thad knew the subject with the Vathari was an uneasy one for most
of the dwarves. They didn’t hate the Vathari but they didn’t like them much either. Every so many generations a war would break out and the dwarves and Vathari would kill each other for years then it would die down and the two groups would go back to their uneasy truce. Both groups had something the other wanted. The Vathari had rare ores and gems mined from the deepest parts of the earth and the dwarves had weapons unequaled in craftsmanship in all the realms.

“That’s the plan. I need someone to teach me and while the dwarves have plenty of magic
, you have no true mages. I can’t teach myself beyond what I have already learned and if I am going to survive and outlast the Brotherhood I am going to need to know everything I can.” Thad said pointedly. 

The smile faded from
Grenlor’s face. “I know lad. I wish we could be of more help ta ya, but yer just not ready yet. When ya return, if ya return seek me out. I should be able to tell ya more then. I promise lad while yer gone I’ll be tracking down everything I can get my grubby little hands on about the Brotherhood fer ya, so do me a favor and watch yer back. Yer a good lad and I don’t want to see ya turn up in a bad way, ya hear me laddie?”

“I will return
, you can count on that Grenlor, otherwise Crusher is going to hunt me down and drag me back, or so he says.” Thad said laughing slightly.

Grenlor joined Thad in his subdued laughter. “Horar might just do it boy, he’s never been on
e ta listen to reason. We all told the boy not to go deep looking for that dang ore but he wouldn’t listen, that boy never listens, at least not to any of us.”

“I am glad he didn’t. If not for him I don’t think I would have survived this long.”

“You would have lad, you would have. You got some fire in yer guts, people like you always find a way to get through even if it’s just by the hair on yer hind end.” Grenlor said slapping Thad hard on the back, nearly sending him sprawling on the floor.

The two continued to talk for a short while Thad readied his pack for the coming journey. He wasn’t sure which way it was to the Vathari home but he had a place to start. All he had to do was find a Vathari and use the code word Sae-Thae had given him. If it worked he would be escorted to the mage if not he would be escorted to his death. Thad hoped that it wasn’t the latter.

As he made his way toward the tunnel that he and Crusher had used to get to the dwarven town he was soon greeted by many people he had come to call friend over his time in the dwarven village. Crusher silently moved up to walk beside him as Avalanche bounced around barking. Thad could see Brianna had come as well she never approached him but Thad could see that her eyes were slightly puffy. He knew he should say something to her, while he could never love her, not the way she wanted, but he still considered her a friend. Soon the opportunity passed as Brianna disappeared into the crowd and was lost to him.

Thad soon found himself staring at the steps carved in the stone that led the way back down into the dept
hs of the earth that had nearly claimed his life. He felt Crushers hand slap him hard on the back forcing his foot to make the first step on his journey. Looking over his shoulder he watched his friend turn and walk away with the rest of the dwarves. Avalanche bounded between Thad and the Crusher as she whined unsure of what was going on but sensing something was out of the ordinary. Putting Avalanche out of his mind Thad forced himself to take the second step and continue down into the darkness below.

This had not been his first time back into the tunnels. He and Crusher had made the trip underground to fight the Vathari many times over the past days. Part of it was to help Thad recover; the other was
because Thad was trying to prove to himself that his injury had not weakened his body. No matter what he could say, Thad knew that there was more damage done than he wanted to admit. It didn’t bother him at first but the more he worked himself the more the pain started to seep into his body. Luckily the pain never came until hours after he pushed himself, so if he was forced to fight at least he wouldn’t be hampered during a battle.

A
s soon as the light was completely gone Thad let his magical eye switch to the infrared spectrum. He had practiced a lot over the passing weeks and while not as good as the dwarves with their night sight he could make out the different walls and heat signatures of creatures. It wasn’t as good as having a light but it was a lot less taxing on his magical items and reserves. Shaking his head Thad almost laughed. How different it was this time as he headed into the darkness when he had run from the Ablaians. He had learned a lot during his time in the caves, as he stumbled about looking for an exit but he had learned even more once he could properly talk to Crusher who was a wealth of information.

The silence of the tunnels was broken as Thad heard a loud noise rushing up with great speed from behind him. He wasn’t worried he had grown used to the noise and knew its origin. Turning his head slightly Thad saw Avalanche as she quickly made her way to his side. Though the creature didn’t
have much in the way of facial features Thad could almost feel her sadness at having to leave the dwarven village. Avalanche had thoroughly enjoyed her stay and dwarves young and old had played with her, and the stoutest dwarves often enjoyed a good wrestle to see if they could match her boundless strength.

Leaning down Thad patted Avalanche on the top of her head. “We will be back before you know it girl.” Thad said reassuringly unsure whether she understood him or not. That was the one thing about the creature that still amazed Thad. Sometimes she almost seemed to be able to converse with him
while other times it was as if she was completely clueless. There was no rhyme or reason to it, it simply just was. Thad had long ago given up on analyzing Avalanche’s unique magical signatures; no matter how close he looked at it, he still didn’t understand its complex workings.

Thad walked slo
wly enjoying the stroll through the Underearth. His mind still battled with itself. He knew he had to go on but a large part of him urged him to turn around and head back to the dwarven village. He already missed the sound of the hammers beating against the anvils, and Crusher’s rough voice as the dwarf poked and prodded at the mage. It would have been easy to simply live out the rest of his days with the dwarves, but if everyone in the world took the easy route then little would be accomplished, he told himself that over and over as he forced his legs to carry him onward.

It was a short journey into Vathari territory or he should say the territory they had claimed as theirs. Thad could hear the sound of the pickaxes against the stone as the Vat
hari workers mined the rich ore that the dwarves held invaluable.  He knew it wouldn’t be long before he encountered a Vathari warrior he just hoped everything went according to plan. He didn’t mind dying, but he preferred it not to be when he was alone. Death came for everyone in due time, but dying alone in the dark seemed to be a lonely way to go, from Thad’s point of thought.

Thad followed the sound of the workers t
hrough the darkness, though he knew his way well. There was a split up ahead, less than fifty yards, if he took a left it would lead him to a cave where a large herd of cave lizards nested, a right would lead him closer to the Vathari war parties and to Sae-Thae. Thad’s heart raced slightly faster with each step, its beat almost in time with his footsteps, each beat bringing him closer to his goal or his death.

When he got to the split
, Thad took the right path and continued on. He tried to calm himself but his nerves were on edge like they always were when battle drew near. He had heard of warriors who remained calm, never showing any change during battle and ones who lost complete control letting their bloodlust consume them. Thad was neither of these. As hard as he
might try, the blood always quickened in his veins when he drew upon his sword or magic for battle, but he never lost himself to the slaughter. Just thinking of such a thing made his blood run cold. A warrior without thought was a danger not only to his enemies but also his friends. A mage without thought was a danger to the world.

Shortly after his turn Thad came across a group of seven armed Vathari warriors guarding the entrance to one of the larger tunnels. They hadn’t seen him so he quickly forced himself against the wall
, though he knew that with his distinct heat signature if they looked it wouldn’t be hard for them to find him. Working up his courage Thad repeated the password that Sae-Thae had told him to say and steeped forward. “Val sur tala reth,” Thad shouted.

As soon as the words left his lips one of the Vathari fighters turned to Thad and threw a short shafted spear in his direction. Thad easily pulled up a wall of magical energy and deflected it. “Val
sur tala reth,” he repeated louder. The Vathari warriors began to argue among each other then one of them started shouting something at Thad though he didn’t understand the meaning. “Val sur tala reth,” Thad repeated over and over as he walked toward the Vathari holding his arms wide only holding his staff.

“ Del
mer raen tue mo Val sur tala reth sue mer?” one of the Vathari said his voice sounding none too pleased.

Thad didn’t know the meaning of the words so he simply shrugged his shoulders.
“Sae-Thae, Val sur tala reth, Sae-Thae.” Thad repeated until one of the Vathari nodded and waved for Thad to follow him. Thad obeyed and was escorted by the soldier along with two others who kept the points of their spears uncomfortably close to Thad’s ribs.

They must have walked five miles before reaching their destination, a small encampment in a large cavern. Thad could see many different forms walking around but there were so many different heat signatures it was hard to tell where one
person ended and another began. He let his magical eye slip back into the normal light spectrum and sent a small flow of magical energy into his staff causing the end of it to light up faintly.

While the light wasn’t strong in the darkness of the caver
n it was like a beacon and lit up the room well enough for Thad to make out the faces gathered around him. As soon as the light had sprung forth, some of the Vathari began to yell and Thad cursed his own stupidity, he just hoped that none of them began to attack. He was fairly confident in his abilities but he was seriously outnumbered.  A robed Vathari female approached him and looked him over as if she was inspecting a slave in the pens. It was a feeling Thad was all too used to and one he didn’t enjoy. “Human, what has brought you to our domain. Back to kill more of my brothers and sisters, or are you just out for a friendly afternoon stroll.”  The Vathari asked perfectly in the common tongue leaving Thad more than a little surprised. “What didn’t expect for any of us to know your language, fool. We are warriors and the key to any victory is knowledge, and languages spoken and unspoken are the road to knowledge. Now answer my question, before one of my men slip and you find your chest impaled with a nice new shiny trinket.”

Thad involuntary shivered as one his guards poked him lightly with the
tip of its weapon. “I wish to be taken to your village. I need to see a Mage by the name of Sae-Thae. I was instructed to tell you
,
Val sur tala reth.”