Ultimate Mage

by Simon Archer

  “Be careful,” I told her as we turned to leave. She nodded curtly in response.

  Back at the campsite, I untied Bill and the other miniature horses and freed them from their saddles while Bernsten and Marinka set up our tents. Freyja had selected a wide, dilapidated clearing for us to make camp in, far off to the side of the beaten path. It didn’t seem like a place the forest elves would congregate.

  We waited in silence for a long time for Freyja’s signal. We didn’t sleep much or talk much, and we only ate twice a day now in order to better ration our dwindling supplies given the lack of animals and edible plants on Viktor’s side of the forest. I lost track of the difference between day and night even more than I had before. We rotated through our watch schedule three times, or nearly two days, before the signal came, when Bernsten finally came crashing into the clearing, calling in a very loud whisper, “It is time, it is time, it is time.”

  I came clambering out of my tent, bumping my head against its ceiling and causing it to crash down on top of me.

  “What’s going on?” I asked as I pulled the remnants of the tent off of my tangled limbs.

  “She signaled,” Bernsten said. “She is standing guard.”

  “Is she alone?” Nadeine asked, and she and Marinka emerged from the other tent, much more elegantly than I had from mine.

  “No,” Bernsten said, shaking his head. “But there are fewer now, and she gave me the signal.”

  “Alright, let’s go,” I said, shrugging and dropping my hands to my sides. “Now or never, I guess.”

  We tied the horses back up so they wouldn’t follow us and returned to the edge of the underbrush by the beaten path. True to Bernsten’s word, Freyja was standing on the beaten path where the guard she had spoken to had been before, while several more guards were standing at the doors.

  “Psst,” Bernsten hissed up at her. “We are here.” She didn’t look down at us. She wouldn’t have been able to see us anyway, given that our appearance was obscured by the thick underbrush.

  The other forest elves who were standing guard didn’t notice her speaking to us, and they couldn’t hear her since her voice was low, she had her back turned to them, and was relatively far away from them, as the other guards were congregated by the fortress’ entrance, leaving the rest of the beaten path to Freyja. They also didn’t particularly seem like they were all that good at or invested in their jobs, opting instead to stand around muttering with one another or dozing off. Viktor may have had a large volume of servants, but the way in which he failed to take care of them properly made him vulnerable. Exhausted, half-starved bodyguards who hate their employer aren’t exactly optimal.

  “I’ll take out the other guards,” Freyja whispered, barely moving her mouth as she spoke so as not to give herself away. “Then you come up here and through the doors.”

  “Alright,” Bernsten whispered back, hesitance in his voice.

  We watched as Freyja circled back over to the other guards. There were maybe six of them now, only a fraction of the number we had seen before, probably because it was the middle of the night. In a flash, Freyja pulled out her daggers and slit the throats of the two guards in front of her. Before the rest could react, she had stabbed them as well. They fell to the ground, defeated with ease because of their weakened physical states.

  “Not very smart, is he?” I asked. “Starving his own guards.”

  “He is intelligent,” Nadeine mused, “but he may have grown too arrogant for his own good over the years.”

  “May have?” I repeated, but she didn’t respond.

  Freyja motioned for us to come to her, and we climbed out of the underbrush and across the main road to meet her at the fortresses’ doors.

  “Nice job,” I said when we reached her.

  “Thanks,” she whispered back.

  “How have you fared these past few days?” Bernsten hissed.

  “It’s been weird,” Freyja said. “The mad kingdom elf truly is mad. He doesn’t seem like he wants to be here for some reason.”

  “You have met him?” Nadeine asked, her tone sharp.

  “I haven’t met him, but I’ve heard him,” Freyja whispered. “He yells a lot. The other guards say he didn’t used to be like this. It’s gotten way worse since you all survived his first attack.”

  “Well, I suppose we are doing something right then, if he is afraid,” Bernsten mused.

  “Alright, what is the plan?” I asked, cutting straight to the point.

  “There aren’t many guards inside, at least not awake ones,” Freyja said. “He has servants that attend to his whims, but they are separate. We’ll enter the fortress and go to him, taking out any guards we meet on the way. After that, it’s your party.” She gestured in Nadeine’s direction on the last part, and the kingdom elf nodded grimly, reaching for her sword.

  “Alright, sounds good,” I said. “Great work, Freyja. You know where he is?”

  “Yes,” Freyja said, nodding. “He dwells in the very back, facing the mountains.”

  “Very well,” Nadeine said, turning to face the door. “Let us proceed.”

  Freyja reached for the long wooden handles and pulled open the doors. There was a lone guard inside, but he was fast asleep. We followed Freyja to the left down the corridor. The inside of the fortress was haphazardly made of wooden logs and painted with peeling yellow paint. It was called a fortress, and I supposed by the forest elves’ standards it was since they didn’t really have buildings aside from the treehouses, but it wasn’t all that big. It was really just a long ranch house full of starving forest elves and, apparently, a madman.

  As we made our way down the corridor, guards would appear in front of us. But unlike when they attacked us on our first night or when we left the center of the forest, the corridors were narrow, and the guards were patrolling separately, as opposed to in throngs. It seemed that Viktor had wasted many of his servants trying to stop us on the way there instead of having them wait to stop us when we arrived.

  We made quick work of the guards, striking them down before they had the time to react and alert more guards to our presence. Each of them appeared shocked that we were there, as if they could never have dreamed we would have made it this far. Freyja slit the first guard’s throat before he even had a chance to cry out. I caught myself thinking that I would hate to be on the wrong side of a battle with her.

  The next guard jumped out in front of me with a knife in hand, and I quickly hummed a spell under my breath, causing a golden sword to appear and run him through his midsection. After that, I kept the spell going preemptively, and artfully mowed down each guard in turn as we made our way through the fortress at Freyja’s direction. Bernsten, Nadeine, and even Marinka helped, too, making sure the guards were dead after they had run into my spell.

  At one point, a guard jumped out of nowhere in front of Marinka, who was to my right. She was surprised and jumped in fright, unable to collect herself in time to strike back at the guard. Just as he was about to slash at her head, I rushed forward and picked her up with one arm, which wasn’t difficult given her petite form and stature. She cried out again at this second surprise but gripped my shoulder tightly. With my other arm, I maintained my concentration on my spell, swooping the giant golden sword in Marinka’s attacker’s direction. It struck him down, and I returned Marinka to the ground. She was out of breath, but no worse for wear considering. Finally, we turned one last corner, and a large set of wooden doors appeared at the end of the corridor.

  “This is it,” Freyja whispered, even quieter now so as not to alert Viktor to our presence. At that moment, a young forest elf, probably in his species’ equivalent of his late teens or early twenties, appeared in front of the doors carrying a plate of food. It was covered in eggs and meat slathered in some kind of sauce that smelled like it had a kick to it. I caught myself salivating.

  The forest elf caught sight of us out of the corner of his eye and turned to gape at us. His clothes were frayed and
nearly falling off of his body, far too big for his malnourished form. Through the holes in his shirt, I could see that there was some kind of cut on his sternum, and his stomach was covered in horrible black bruises. Freyja raised her knife to strike him but didn’t pull the metaphorical trigger. His eyes darted between us and the door, and then down to the overflowing tray of food.

  “You… you are the mage?” he asked in a hushed whisper, staring at me. I nodded. “You will destroy him?” I nodded again. Freyja moved to strike him with her weapon, but I held out my arm to stop her.

  “No, wait,” I said. “He’s unarmed.” I gestured at the kid. Freyja eyed him with uncertainty.

  “I wish him dead as much as you,” the forest elf hissed and stepped aside, motioning us to go through the door. We passed him, and he scurried away, digging into the feast on the plate himself as he went. It was probably the most he’d eaten at once in months. Years, maybe.

  We crept forward and pulled open the doors.

  28

  The room was wooden, much like the center forest elves’ treehouses, but it was much broader. As far as furniture was concerned, there was only a cushioned chair and a small table in front of it. Next to the door were several empty packs like the ones we had brought from the kingdom, and against the side wall were stacked a pyramid of spherical gray objects that had a wispy quality to them.

  Viktor was standing in the center of the room, a long, dark gray broadsword drawn and pointed straight at us. Across his face was a bright red scar accompanied by several lines and other sunken areas on his face that looked like more scars. A lot like Bernsten, he had long jet black hair down to his shoulders, though his hair was speckled with the occasional streak of gray. He was wearing armor, but not the same armor as the other kingdom elves. Instead of heavy metal like my companions, Viktor's armor appeared to be made of thick slabs of wood, painted dark black to match his hair. After all, he had left the kingdom long before his people had transitioned to weapons and heavy armor. I wondered briefly where he had gotten his sword but shook away the thought, knowing that these questions would have to be answered later.

  “Welcome,” he snarled, his lip curling upwards, his voice low and raspy. “I thought I heard someone outside my door who was not meant to be there. I must say, you have surprised me. I never fathomed you would make it this far. But here you are. It only means that I will have the pleasure of defeating you myself.” He spat out the last few words, and I could see his spittle spraying down in front of him. And without further ado, he lunged at us, wielding his broadsword and hacking it in Bernsten’s direction since he was in the middle of our group.

  Bernsten stepped back momentarily in alarm, but then raised his own sword to clash with Viktor’s in the air. He pushed upwards until Viktor’s strength gave way. Both kingdom elves were broad-shouldered and tall for their race, but Bernsten was younger and even stronger. Even so, Viktor was a skilled warrior, artfully dancing towards and away from Bernsten, avoiding the other elf’s blows and attempting to land some of his own.

  Nadeine and Freyja jumped to help Bernsten, wielding their own weapons and moving to strike Viktor. But Viktor and his broad sword were able to fend off all of their attacks, though having all three of them on him at once made it more difficult for him to land any blows of his own. Marinka, shocked by the abruptness of the battle, stood still in shock for a moment before drawing her daggers and running to join the fray.

  As I watched the battle ensue, I hurriedly drew a mage’s circle on the surrounding ground. It wasn’t exactly visible on the wooden floors, but it would have to do. It would be better than nothing. The magic would know I made an attempt, at least, and would be concentrated enough to work. I could feel it. I held out my arms, and my cello appeared just as Marinka was joining the battle. I began to play without hesitation, and a giant golden sword that began one of my advanced combat spells appeared in front of me. I concentrated intently on the sword as I played, willing it to go after Viktor and leave my companions be.

  Viktor stopped his assault on my companions when my spell began. He stared at me, his eyes wide, and then darted his gaze between the spell, my cello, and then back to me over and over again several times.

  “Impossible,” he spat, staring at my spell in disbelief. Taking advantage of this moment of hesitation on Viktor’s part, all four of my companions descended upon him with their respective weapons. My sword reached him just as theirs’ did, descending upon him and bashing at his armor. To my surprise, it was pretty thick and didn’t break. I willed my spell not to kill him, but only wound him, knowing that we needed to get information out of him before he died.

  Viktor made one successful attempt to get away from my companions and my spell, rolling on the ground to press against their legs and destabilize them, moving out of the way of a blow from what was now a giant golden mace in the process. He was mostly under the table in front of the chair now, and leapt up into a standing position in front of the chair, holding up his sword, snarling audibly, and swinging it in Marinka’s direction. But my mace followed him, not destabilized by Viktor’s rolling like my companions had. It came down on his shoulder, causing him to scream out in pain and agony as his armor finally broke. His sword went flying as blood gushed from the wound, but he was still alive.

  Taking advantage of the opportunity, Nadeine crept up behind him and brought her sword around to press against his neck. Then she shoved him into a nearby chair.

  “Stop,” he wailed. “You have won this battle, though I remind you not yet the war.”

  “You don’t tell me what to do,” she snarled. “And if you make even one tiny movement, I’ll slit your throat.” He froze and stiffened.

  “How did you get here?” he asked, his voice raspy with fear.

  “We fought our way here,” Nadeine said. She didn’t elaborate, instead repeating, “Lay down your weapons.” He sighed and pulled several daggers out of the sides of his boots, his neck making contact with Nadeine’s sword and drawing a trickle of blood.

  “Good,” Nadeine said. “Now tell us how you did it.”

  “Did what?” Viktor asked, his tone mocking. Nadeine didn’t glorify the question with a response.

  “Fine,” he snapped after a period of silence. “My… what did they like to call it?... tenuous connection to our magic proved to be more useful than I once thought. I found I was able to… draw out and obstruct the abilities of others.”

  “That is what you did to Damir and the other children,” Marinka said, stepping forward. It wasn’t a question.

  “I see you have done your research,” Viktor sneered. “Well done, good for you.” Marinka didn’t respond to the snide remark. Instead, she continued with her line of questioning.

  “You did research of your own,” she said. “In the libraries. Is that how you learned this power?”

  “No,” Viktor snapped, raising his voice for the first time. “The royal castle’s archives are a pathetic excuse for research, as I am sure you have learned during your time in this forest. Though, of course, you may be too obtuse to take note of that which you do not understand. You are of the royal family, after all.”

  “I assure you, we noticed,” Marinka said cooly. “But that does not render our archives or our people’s knowledge meaningless.”

  “Does it not?” Viktor asked, but I got the sense that it was a rhetorical question, not meant to be answered.

  “So, how did you learn this power?” Nadeine asked, leaning further into his chair and pulling her sword closer to his neck as a reminder of what was at stake should he refuse to answer our questions.

  “I developed it on my own,” Viktor said. I noted that his voice was actually quite smooth, and I imagined that his demeanor, though hostile, could have been thought charming once. “That was the kingdom’s first and most fatal mistake: underestimating me.”

  “On that, we can agree,” Nadeine said.

  “Can we now?” Viktor asked, chuckling. “I am shocked.�
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  “Have you not made the same mistake?” Bernsten asked, speaking for the first time.

  “What do you mean, boy?” Viktor spat.

  “Only that you must have underestimated us, to think that we would not reach you, and to have such lax security in your own home,” Bernsten explained. And he was right. This had all been a little too simple.

  “You have not killed me yet,” Viktor said, chuckling again, and I felt a chill run down my spine.

  “Only because you have not yet explained yourself,” Nadeine growled, pulling her sword in tighter and creating a deeper gash on Viktor’s neck.

  “Now, why would I do that when you have just admitted to planning to kill me, anyway?” Viktor asked, and I could hear the sneer in his voice.

  “Perhaps we will not kill you should you reveal important information to us,” Marinka said hastily, rushing to correct Nadeine’s mistake. She gestured up at my mace, which was still hanging in the air. Through all this, I was still sitting in my makeshift mage’s circle, my bow still but remaining firmly on my strings as I concentrated with all my might to keep the spell suspended, hanging over Viktor in case he decided to attempt another attack or shrewd getaway. I dared not speak, for fear that my concentration would break, and Viktor would take advantage of the spell’s disappearance.

  “Nice save,” Viktor laughed. “Why should I believe you, when this wench has a sword held to my neck, and this strange man you have brought from another land lords his magic over me, as everyone in your precious kingdom always did to me? What assurances can you make me?”

  “I am the royal family’s representative on this quest,” Marinka said, her voice harder and more determined than usual. “Nothing will happen to you without my directive.” She looked at Nadeine pointedly at this until she nodded begrudgingly in acceptance of these terms.

  “Alright,” Viktor said slowly as if he were relishing each syllable. “You have assured me that you alone will direct my assassination. Now I need some reassurance that I will not be killed the second you no longer have need of me.”