Wizard Pair (Book 3) (12 page)

Anelm nodded to a young girl with shoulder length dirty brown hair. She looked to be about ten summers in age. Anelm pushed her towards the Priest. "Her name is Brill."

Rotiaqua perked up at the girl's name. Was this the girl Zhimosom was looking for? She looked to be the same age and hair color. Perhaps this is where she had ended up after Zhimosom lost track of her. She calmed herself. She would tell him about her the next time they talked.

Brill stood there silently as Sulrad looked her over. "Well, isn't it the clumsy one? Have you learned to carry water without spilling it yet?"

Brill hung her head. "Yes, Sire."

Sulrad pointed to a door leading to the private part of the Temple. "Stand over there."

Sulrad turned back to Anelm's daughter. "Let me see what the Lord Ran can do for your daughter." Sulrad placed his hand on the girl's head. He tilted her face and looked her in her eyes.

"Do you believe that Ran can heal you?" he asked.

The girl tried to twist her head to look to her father for an answer, but Sulrad held her firm.

"Not what your father believes, but what you believe?"

"I ... I do, Father," she stammered.

Sulrad closed his eyes. Rotiaqua felt him drawing power into himself. She felt a slight tug at her own power and raised the shields that Zhimosom had taught her. It frightened her to think that the Priest could draw on her magic against her will. She thought only Zhimosom could share her power, and then only when she wished it. She was anxious to discuss this new worry with Zhimosom.

The Priest droned on for a while, calling on his god Ran. Rotiaqua sensed his magic at work. There was nothing to indicate any god played a part in the healing. It was just the Priest performing healing magic.

When he was finished, he dismissed the girl and her father, but not before taking a small sack of Golds that Anelm offered in addition to the serving girl.

Sulrad walked over to where Brill stood quietly with a look of defiance on her face.

Sulrad grabbed her by the arm. "You belong to me now. You do as I say and serve the Temple well and you will live a happy life. Cause me trouble and Ran will have an extra sacrifice."

Wizard Zhimosom

After a long hard day in the stables, Zhimosom relaxed and opened himself up to Rotiaqua. The contact formed as it had so often. It was becoming almost a part of his life now, that connection to Rotiaqua. Her presence stayed with him throughout the day even when they were not in direct communication.

He had sensed an uncomfortable feeling from her earlier in the day, and was eager to find out what had happened. When her image appeared in his room, he asked her about it.

"Remember that girl you've been looking for? The one from the farm, who came here with you?"

"Brill, yes. Have you heard something?"

"A family brought a servant girl to the Temple today as payment for a healing spell that Sulrad cast on their daughter. The servant girl looked like the girl you described, and the man said her name was Brill."

Zhimosom felt his face flush with embarrassment. He had promised the girl that he would take care of her when he talked her into coming with him to the city. He lost touch with her the very first day. Now it looked like she'd fallen into the hands of the Temple.

"We have to help her. I promised I'd help her and I failed her the first day we were here. She should not have to work as Sulrad's slave because I let her down." Zhimosom feared what Sulrad might do to Brill. He had to find a family to take her in. She had helped him bury his father. She had no one to look out for her; she was an orphan now, just like him.

"He told the girl that if she served well she would have a nice life in the Temple, but if she caused problems, he would sacrifice her to his false god."

"We need to do something. We can’t just leave her there. What if he decides she's not worth keeping alive?" Zhimosom wanted to start for the Temple immediately. He would confront Sulrad and try to free Brill.

"Hold on. There's nothing we can do tonight. Sulrad is much too powerful. We need a plan. Let's continue to keep an eye on him. Maybe we can find something to help us get Brill out of there. We need to know more about him."

Zhimosom sat back down. He still wanted to confront Sulrad immediately, but Rotiaqua made sense. Sulrad was a powerful Wizard and Zhimosom was doubtful that he had enough strength to stand up to him.

Rotiaqua shifted nervously. "I'm concerned about what Sulrad might do to me. I saw Sulrad heal a girl that they brought to the Temple. While he was performing his spell, I felt a pull on my magic. It was as if he was trying to use my power to help him heal the girl.

"I raised a shield like you showed me, and it kept him from taking it ... But it still worries me. Can he do that? Pull power from somewhere outside of himself? Could we?"

"I don't know. There's so much about magic that I don't understand yet. We could try."

Zhimosom felt for her magic to see if he could draw on it. She resisted slightly at first, then yielded to him. He used their combined power to raise a fireball in his hand, watching it get brighter and hotter as he blended her magic with his own.

He released the spell and his hold on her magic and watched the fireball die out.

"I felt you draw on me. It was just like at the Temple," Rotiaqua said.

"I can feel your power constantly," Zhimosom said. "I wonder what else we can draw power from."

He reached out to the fire that he no longer needed to connect with Rotiaqua. He felt the power in it, not magic, but a source of power, clear and pure, available to him, should he choose to take it.

He drew on it as he focused another fireball in his hand. This time the fireball was more intense, spinning faster. He played with it, imagining it brighter and stronger. He was pleased with his efforts when, suddenly, the fire in his hearth went out, and the fireball exploded in a shower of sparks. He was blinded by the light and recovered slowly.

Rotiaqua's image faded, but stayed with him. She was laughing at his discomfort, and he felt embarrassed by his ineptitude. "Maybe it takes practice," was all he could think to say.

"Let me try." Rotiaqua raised her hand in the vision. He saw her form a fireball just as he had. She drew power from him. It felt strange to release his power to her. He wanted to resist at first, but he relented and let her take control of his magic.

She had a more subtle way about her. Almost a coaxing of the power from him into her fireball. It was different from the way he did magic. His own was more like his will was forcing the fire to come to life, hers was a gentle suggestion.

Zhimosom felt Rotiaqua reach out to his hearth and light the fire, filling the room once more with its heat and light. She nodded to him and released her fireball.

Zhimosom probed for other sources of power. He could feel it now, the raw energy of the fire, and slightly subdued, the power in his neighbors' fireplaces. He reached out farther, relaxing himself to the city around him. He felt a faint undercurrent of energy, not magic, but power that could be channeled and manipulated by magic.

He noticed a faint source of power in the life force of everything around him, stronger in some than others, but it was there. He felt around the room and quickly located a mouse hiding behind the bed. He had detected its life force even though he couldn't see it.

"We'll have to practice that," Rotiaqua said when he finished. "I could feel the way you gathered power to yourself, but I'm not sure I could do it myself."

"It's there, in everything that's alive or that burns. I can even feel the power in the kettle boiling over the fire down the street. It's amazing."

"Keep practicing. You'll figure something out," Rotiaqua said.

"I'll try now. I'll let you know when we speak next."

Zhimosom released the connection to Rotiaqua and pondered what he had just learned. If there was power in every living thing, then he could manipulate that power. That must be how the healing spells worked.

How did Sulrad draw power from other living things? Maybe he could emulate that. If Zhimosom could store up enough power, he could confront Sulrad directly and free Brill.

Zhimosom reached out to the mouse he had noticed earlier. It came in response to his thoughts and climbed up on the table next to him. He stared at it for the longest time, getting a feel for its energy. Zhimosom knew he could reach out and take that energy for his own if he chose to.

The mouse's life force was a light violet glow that emanated from the animal. He reached out and touched it.

The mouse dropped dead as Zhimosom absorbed its life energy. Something made him shudder as the tiny bit of life force flowed from the mouse into his body to mix with his magical reserve. He felt it there, as if a foreign object were stuck beneath his skin, like a sliver of wood that he couldn't get out.

This might be what Sulrad did to increase his power, but Zhimosom knew it was wrong. He felt it in the irritating way the tiny sliver of power from the mouse gnawed at him. He shuddered to think what it would feel like to take the power of another person into himself.

Over the next few days, Brill's situation weighed heavy on Zhimosom's mind. He felt responsible for her. He had promised to help find a family to take her in, but he had let her down. He worried for her safety.

From what Rotiaqua had witnessed, the Priest cared little for the common folk. What kind of life would she have as a servant in the Temple? He decided that he had waited enough; he had to free her right away even though it meant risking a run in with Sulrad. Zhimosom didn't speak of his decision with Rotiaqua, fearing she would try to talk him out of it.

Zhimosom tried to get into the Temple, but Sulrad had hired a local tough to stand Guard outside the new main entrance.

"Stay out, you." The tough stepped in his path as he tried to enter. He had planned to follow one of the faithful in, but they wore fine clothes and had bathed recently. Zhimosom was not part of the family he was following and the tough knew it.

"I am only seeking employment with the Temple," Zhimosom said. He thought if Sulrad were employing Guards then seeking work would sound like a reasonable excuse for him to be there.

"We don't need any help and we don't want your type around here." The tough was no different from Zhimosom, yet he spoke as if he were noble born.

Zhimosom abandoned his attempt to circumvent the Guard. He waited until evening and returned to a spot where the Temple was still under construction. He chose an area where the structure had no doors or windows as yet.

There was another tough on Guard, but this one was occupied talking to a woman who frequented the street. Zhimosom waited for his opportunity and snuck in. He fumbled around in the dark for a while before remembering that he had magic and need never be in the dark. He raised a small gentle flame in the palm of his hand to light his way.

He located several rooms that appeared to be the servants' quarters. There were far more rooms than there were servants. The Priest must have hopes of a large staff when the Temple was completed.

One of the doors was locked from the outside. Zhimosom placed his hand on it and felt for the person within. He sensed a girl, but not Brill; this girl was older.

The next room was also locked. Once again, he felt for the presence within. This time it was Brill. He knocked softly and waited for an answer. When none was forthcoming, he knocked again.

"Brill. It's me, Zhimosom."

There was a faint answer. "I'm here."

"Are you all right?"

"They beat me if I'm too slow with my chores or if I spill something in the kitchen."

"What happened to your aunt? I thought she would take you in?"

"She put me out on the street when she learned my folks were dead. She already has enough mouths to feed and she can't feed another one.

"Someone grabbed me and sold me to the factor, and he sold me to the Temple. Please get me out of here. We can run away to a farm. My father's sister lives on a farm. They can always use more kids on the farm."

Zhimosom reached for the lock with his magic. He felt the individual parts that made it work. He grasped them with his magic and set them just so, twisting the lock. It popped open with a click and he swung the door wide to find Brill standing there. She rushed over and gave him a hug.

"We have to get out of here before they come," Brill said. "Someone checks that lock often. I think they have a Guard that makes rounds."

Zhimosom relocked the door after Brill was out. He hoped that would keep the Guard from looking inside. He took Brill by the hand and headed back the way he had entered.

When he reached the darkest part, he raised a flame in his hand again to light their way. He kept the fire small and muted, just enough to see by, as they navigated the dark passageways.

Just when Zhimosom thought they were safely through, he heard a noise ahead, in the dark. It sounded like someone clearing their throat.

"Going somewhere?" a voice asked.

Zhimosom peered into the passageway ahead, holding his light aloft to fill the darkness. He could make out a figure standing in their path. A flame burst into life in the outstretched hand of the man barring the way and Zhimosom knew that he had alerted Sulrad to his presence.

Zhimosom raised his shield around Brill and himself, and reached out to Rotiaqua. "I am in the Temple to free Brill and Sulrad has found us. I need your help."

"What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking! Please help me."

She opened her magic up to him. He didn't wait to thank her. He just took her magic and combined it with his own to strengthen his shield. He raised a fireball and waited for the Priest to take the first action.

"Ah, I recognize your magic. I've felt you work magic on occasion. I've been looking for you, but you've hidden well. Now you've walked right in here to confront me." He laughed.

"You can't win against me; you're hardly more than a boy
,
" Sulrad said.