The Changeling

by Whiskey Flowers

  “Lawrence wasn't ready!” Xalen cried out. “Your father cheated!”

  “Lawrence still lost Your Highness,” Jonathan said proudly. “He lost to a man he underestimated and he paid with his life. That tosser talked big about how he wanted to comfort my mother. Now he can comfort himself in the pit!”

  Jonathan watched his father walk off and stand next to his mother. There was uproar all around as people rushed to check on Lawrence. The mages all around Jonathan were wondering what the spell was that hit Lawrence and Earl Gillespie walked up to Joshua and casted his magevision again, then shook his head. Jonathan was shocked at how quick lightning magic was. There was no way to dodge it and his father had gotten the spell off quickly. It wouldn't do much against a mob of people but one on one it was devastating. Any opponent would have to be strong and quick to avoid being killed. Russell could probably beat it, but only if he had the right game plan.

  Magebolt was a strong ranged spell that was easy to vary the strength of. It could stun anyone caught off guard without a shield. The stronger a magebolt the slower moving it was, so it was possible to just dodge the strong spell like one would do a thrown ball. Maybe fireball could be cast quick enough by a fast mage but fireballs could also be dodged. Jonathan wasn't sure what spell would be lightning’s equivalent. There were spells that would do far more damage to a much larger area but they would not be useful against his father. Now that Jonathan had seen it in action he felt good about himself. The only way he could be beaten would be by a mage capable of bringing their mage shield into existence quickly. His father could kill almost anyone in his class except for Farrah and Russell. Even Monica would have a hard time getting her shield up in time to block Joshua’s lightning attack.

  “Your family has a spell unique to them,” Russell said. “That is why your mother married such a pitiful mage.”

  “Lawrence doesn't think he's so pitiful,” Jonathan beamed. “Lawrence isn't thinking much of anything anymore.”

  “Hurry this up!” King Jeffrey barked. “Clear this and get the students ready. We have had enough excitement.”

  Jonathan knew the man was upset Lawrence was dead and smiled at his display of such a poor attitude. The first test was to cast a magelight. Russell went first and cast a magelight so bright even people far away from him remarked on its size and blinding brightness. Jonathan walked in front of Farrah and went next. He was sure that Russell’s magelight was brighter but it was not by much. Jonathan pumped as much magic as he could inside of the spell which caused many people to start pointing at him. He walked back and let Farrah cast her spell. Jonathan covered his eyes. He didn't know how he fared against her but knew he had surprised his classmates with his showing.

  “You have been holding back!” Russell said and looked at Jonathan. “I knew you were. Things about you just didn't add up.”

  “He is just trying to show off,” Xalen said. “He wants to make the rest of us look bad to boost his own status.”

  Jonathan ignored them and instead focused on his parents. They were excited watching him perform and clapped for him when he cast multiple magelights and really got loud when he moved the iron block off the pedestal entirely. Jonathan was impressed at himself but thought the block was somehow lighter as Farrah also moved the block off the pedestal and Monica moved it all the way to the end. During the shield test, one of the king’s own mundane guards banged on his shield and did it much harder than he did to the rest. Jonathan’s shield held though and he laughed at the guard who was trying his best to get through. After the tests were over there was supposed to be an official social gathering. It would be the time for many people to get to know the various nobles around them without having mundanes around.

  “Jonathan,” Joshua said as he gave his son a hug. “There was only one person out there who could hold a candle to you.”

  “I don't think either of the girls impressed as well as you did,” Sara said giving him a hug and kiss. “Only the Duke’s son is a match for you. I am not sure about the daughter but if the both of them are considered to be the future Archmage and Tower Mage, you are definitely in the running. That Monica girl is not too far behind you though, so you can't get lazy.”

  “Oh great,” Jonathan said, and gave a sigh. “Here comes your friends.”

  Jonathan could see the Archmage and the Tower Mage walking over towards them. Just from their body language Jonathan could tell both were angry. The Tower Mage moved his brother out of the way and took the lead. Just by the sneer on his face Jonathan knew the man was going to say something that Jonathan wouldn't like.

  “You made me look like a fool in front of the King and Queen,” Quevin said looking at Jonathan. “I told them you were nothing to worry about and you tried your best to outdo both of Duke Golad’s children.”

  “Not my problem they did not rise to the occasion Tower Mage,” Jonathan said.

  “Joshua Thunder” the Archmage said. “You have ruined what was supposed to be a festive time. You and your wife will be activated and sent to the border. I know you have a year and something left and you will spend it looking at the Raelinian Army.”

  “You are both just angry,” Jonathan said.

  “Shut up when I am speaking boy,” the Archmage said in a clipped tone.

  “Today I may be a boy,” Jonathan said. “But one day I will not be.”

  “That makes no sense,” the Archmage said. “Now show some decency and leave.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Joshua and Sara Thunder

  “More traitors!” Joshua screamed as a bolt of lightning ripped across the battlefield and took a mage in the head.

  “Something isn't right about these people Joshua,” Sara said. “Just look at their eyes, it is like they are being controlled somehow.”

  “We need to flee,” Joshua said. “I am almost out of energy, the kingdom needs to put more mages out here.”

  “We can't think about that now, let’s go,” Sara said, as she tugged Joshua away from the battlefield.

  Sara and Joshua had been on the front lines for two months now. For now only commoners were sent off to help augment the army. Joshua or Sara did not have to be in the front of any battle and instead did most of their damage from the sidelines. The enemy mostly attacked at night, in the daylight hours they were content to defend and wait until nightfall to attack again.

  Sara had said something that made Joshua pause. The mage he just killed was named Max Ward. He had a wife and daughter he was in a hurry to get back to. Max was from one of the few commoner mage families still remaining and he used to gush over his daughter Crystal and how she would no doubt be at the top of her class thanks to some ability of her mother’s that made her aura replenish itself at a faster rate. Why would he join the other side then? Did they have something on him to force him to switch sides? That couldn't be it Joshua thought. If it was, he would have at least avoided Joshua on the field of battle instead of facing him head on. Joshua thought back to the last time he saw Max. The man was sleeping in his tent and had gotten overwhelmed from a surprise night attack from the Raelinians. Joshua thought he was dead until he saw him today, almost three days later.

  “Some of these men we are fighting have on our uniforms,” Sara said. “Something about this fight isn't right.”

  “Senior Commander Burns would know,” Joshua said. “The man needs to stop playing games with us or we will refuse to go out. We only have to join the front when the noble mages get here. So far we have been risking our safety for nothing.”

  Sara followed Joshua to the rear of the fighting and found Senior Commander Sideland Burns sitting in his command tent at a table. The man was writing something down furiously on a big map while people around him stared intently. Sara wanted to say something but the man looked so busy, that whatever he was working on had to be important. Sara walked around to see what he was scribbling down and saw it was five different missives. Burns was asking for help from everyone he could ask. He was as
king the Archmage for a lot more mages, the King for a lot more troops and various military commanders for help with how to best face the enemy.

  “He knows something,” Joshua said, as he started reading the missives as well.

  “What do you know Burns?” Sara asked. “The people we are fighting are too strong to be natural. They can flip our own troops to fight against us. Max Ward was not a traitor. He was a mage who bragged on about his daughter to me whenever he got the chance. I even talked with the man about his daughter and my son forming a powerful mage family. Those are not the words of a traitor and yet I just killed him on the battlefield as he was fighting for the Raelians.”

  “I have put things together,” Burns said. “No one wanted to listen to me, but I don't think there is any doubt. We are fighting dead people out there.”

  “Dead people?” Joshua asked.

  “How do you know this?” Sara asked.

  “During the last raid a few men of mine saw their squad-mates killed,” Burns began. “They fought off the enemy, but were sure their friend was dead on the field. A surge by the enemy made them fall back. A few moments ago our man who was killed was brought before me. He was re-killed by being bashed in the head while fighting against us. I think the same thing happened to your friend, he was killed and somehow was brought back.”

  “I have noticed the people we have been fighting have slowly been withdrawing” Sara said. “More and more we are fighting our own people instead of the enemy. They do not seem to be trying to win battles. They have tried to inflict as many casualties in a short of time as possible and flee.”

  “They just want to slowly bleed us,” Burns said. “I have noticed this as well. They have some kind of magic to reanimate the bodies, I just don't know how they're doing it.”

  “I have not seen any of their mages on the battlefield,” Joshua said. “But I have heard they have some people they call the Blood Priests.”

  “I have heard the rumors as well, and at this point I think it is safe to assume we know more than most in the kingdom do,” Burns said. “I do not think these people commune with the dead and sleep with evil spirits or any other lies we have heard. I think they control our dead. But until we capture one of them we can only guess.”

  “We know they are going to attack tonight” Sara said. “They march at night and harass our troops so we won't be able to get to sleep.”

  “I am asking the Archmage and General Kylar to petition the Royal Couple to declare war” Burns said. “My immediate commanders are facing the Downey, and are trying to get all the resources over there. They think this battle is nothing but a skirmish and that the Downey are the real issue. Maybe they are right, there is no reason to put someone with a rank as low as mine in charge of an entire battlefront. My five legions are not enough to hold back an entire army, even if they are just toying with us presently.”

  “I think I and my husband are the only two mages you have left here,” Sara said, and shook her head.

  “And I hate to lean on you even more,” Burns said. “But my main mission from here on out has to be to find then kill or capture one of the blood priests or whatever weapon the enemy has that is reanimating our dead.”

  “We will try to find one,” Joshua said.

  “I hope so,” Burns replied. “We started off with fifteen hundred men and now I am down to nine hundred. It is all I can do to hold off these people. I hope the new weapons I have coming in will help us out. I may not know how to battle a Blood Priest, but I know how to kill their enthralled undead.”

  “I have burned them and still they come,” Sara said. “I have set them on fire and they do not yell or scream. They just continue trying to kill me.”

  “You have to go for the head,” Burns said. “I think that is the only way to cut them down. That is the reason I am equipping all of my men with blunt weapons. Heavy damage to the head or beheading stops them.”

  “Senior Commander Burns you must flee!” said a soldier running into the tent. “The Realinians are throwing everything at us this time!”

  CHAPTER 8

  “Still worried?” Thurman asked Jonathan as they both sat outside.

  “They have attacked Thurman,” Jonathan said. “My parents are out there and no one believes this is a simple engagement.”

  “They will be fine Jonathan,” Bill said. “I have seen your father fight and he does not look like a man that will go down easily. Come have lunch with the rest of us.”

  “My father is good for one on one battles,” Jonathan said. “But he has only a small amount of aura to use. It is just not fair.”

  “No it isn't,” Bill said. “But it is what it is. You still have your own job to do here.”

  “You are going to have to take over for us Jonathan,” Thurman said. “There are going to be eight of you. But you are the leader. It is solely because of you that the nobles have left us alone altogether.”

  “No they haven't,” Jonathan said. “Russell Golad has made it known to me that he will go through our entire class if I am ever seen talking to his sister. Prince Xalen has told me that he expects for me to end up with a daughter of one of the more powerful mage families, probably that of one of his friends. Monica Manchin has been trying to pick fights with me. She wants to prove that she is not the fourth member of the Big Four. Worse than all of that, I get to hear Gerald Morningstar talk about how my parents are going to die. They probably leave you alone, but they definitely do not leave me alone.”

  “Well you are carrying the burden so we will not have to,” Bill said. “How is the class coming along, the new one they put you in?”

  “Horrible,” Jonathan said. “It is only the Big Four in there and we are being directly tutored by the Tower Mage himself. Quevin Wilson hates me and spends most of the two hours we spend together criticizing my form, the way I stand and the quickness I cast with. The others are getting encouraging words. He bites my head off whenever I make the smallest mistake.”

  “Then you will get better sooner,” Thurman said. “There is a rumor that you are gifted in earth magic?”

  “It is not my strong point, but I am decent in it,” Jonathan replied. “It takes being able to manipulate a bunch of different spells.”

  “Not even Russell Golad with all of his power, can do that,” Thurman said.

  “How did you know about the earth magic?” Jonathan asked.

  “Because he decided not to pursue a relationship with my beloved’s cousin,” Bill said.

  “Because the Archmage himself told me I show a little promise and introduced me to a beautiful girl from a minor noble family. She just happens to have less magic than I do so many nobles will not even take a look at her. She refuses to be with anyone who is not a mage and I was promised I would not be sent to the front lines if I marry her. We only have a few months here Bill. After that we can be sent to face down the Raelian army and their mages.”

  “Those things are not mages,” Bill said.

  “Whatever. They are using magic,” Thurman replied. “And there are a lot more of them than there are of us. You are being adopted. The Archmage wouldn't toss you to the Raelinians. But he would toss all of the rest of us commoner mages to them. I do not want the man angry at me and Marcia, although angry to be with a commoner, is not totally opposed to being with a man shorter than she is.”

  “What about the others?” Jonathan asked.

  “The only people still on the fence are Red, Edgar and Terriel,” Bill replied. “It is rare to find a mage that will sleep around and they all know this. They have been at it with any girl that wants their children. They are fools Thunder. They will be on the frontlines before they know it, either helping map out some of the barbarian lands or looking at the Raelinians. Who knows, maybe they will face the Downey. But they will be somewhere, already the Tower Mage has caught wind of them. They better enjoy their time here why they can.”

  “Well let's finish up our day,” Jonathan said. “The only thing I
can do is to try to be the best mage that I can. I want to join my parents on the frontlines until their term is up. Maybe then I will find out where life is taking me.”

  “Jonathan,” Mage Winchell said, looking as sad as Jonathan had ever seen the always scowling man.

  Jonathan climbed to his feet. He and could see Winchell was holding a folded piece of paper. Jonathan was curious as to what it was about when he recognized the uniform of a man standing behind Winchell. It was a messenger in service to the Royal Army. Jonathan sprinted forward and snatched the letter away from Winchell as the man gave Jonathan a look of pity.

  Jonathan ripped open the letter and stared in disbelief, his worst nightmare had come true. The message was from Senior Commander Sideland Burns. The man spoke of his parents' bravery and how they not only gave Burns the chance to flee but also how they found out how to stop the Raelinians. Jonathan didn't care if they found out how to kill every Raelinian in existence. His parents were dead. They were two of the very few mages who had been sent to face the Raelinians. The last letter Jonathan received from them spoke of the Archmage having sent only members of commoner mage families to that frontline. Jonathan crushed the letter in his hand.

  “Jonathan,” Mage Winchell said, as he placed an arm on the young man’s shoulder. “I am sorry for your loss. I am one of the few here who has also lost someone. My son wanted to prove himself when we first came into contact with the barbarians. All you can do now son is to throw yourself into your training.”

  “The Archmage is the cause of this,” Jonathan growled. “He is a coward who sent my parents to die.”

  “You are angry Jonathan,” Mage Winchell said. “Why don't you spend the day getting your feelings in order.”

  “No,” Jonathan said. “I am going to class.”

  Jonathan walked into the Tower and into his classroom. He was in there for an hour or so before Russell, Farrah, Monica and the Tower Mage walked in to begin class. No one said anything but Jonathan could see a smirk on the Tower Mage’s face. Jonathan took a seat and noticed Farrah avoided looking at him. They know Jonathan thought. All of these nobles knew that Jonathan’s parents had died and they were gloating inside.