Stonecutter's Shadow: A young mage's fight through a fantasy kingdom full of treachery

by James Haddock

  I sent them on to other jobs, and I got to work. I stepped into Shadow and raised a stone canal beside the river where the water wheel would sit, then raised the foundation for the sawmill house.

  The only thing I would have to bring in was the sawmill blade and the leather drive belts. That done, I Shadow Flowed to the place where we had decided to build the first warehouse. I raised the warehouse stone floor and four-foot-high wall. I made it 60 feet wide, and 120 feet long, figuring the carpenters could build the rest. I ate a big meal and went to sleep.

  I ate breakfast at the mess with everyone else. Before I left, I gave Hanson and Sgt. Rhodes each a purse of gold for unforeseen expenses and told them I'd be back as soon as I could.

  I flew Falcon the two-day trip to Hackman to contract with a supply caravan. The town was a day’s travel by wagon beyond the cliff wall where the river cut through.

  Hackman was an agricultural town supported by lots of farmland and cattle ranches. It was a good-sized town to not have a seaport, but from here the river was navigable. Finding a caravan for what I wanted was easy because that was one of their main sources of business, cattle being the other. I also bought 100 head of cattle to be delivered as soon as possible to Flat Lake.

  I was told that the caravan would be there in two weeks, but the cattle would take four weeks. We agreed on terms and I paid half the cost in advance in gold.

  On the return flight to Flat Lake, we followed the river, which seemed to be navigable except for a few miles of rapids before Hackman, and rapids and shallows ten miles past Flat Lake. All of which were easily fixed.

  I stopped and gave Hanson enough gold to pay the caravan and cattle from Hackman. I needed check with the gorge fort to see if anything was happening, but I rested the night before I left.

  Falcon was turning out to be a great boon and I flew him to the fort. “It's been quiet so far,” Col. Rothman said. “But we have been scouted. Not hard, but they know we're here. Now we wait and see what they decide to do about us.”

  “Any word on our returning supply caravan?” I asked.

  “Not yet, but if they did a turnaround trip, which they usually do, they should be on their way back by now,” He answered.

  “We have a supply caravan coming in from Hackman, with a six months’ supply and 100 cattle. I'll reorder when they get here, so we should be all right from a supply standpoint. I think I'll go to Rockspire and see what I can find out.”

  * * *

  When Falcon and I left the fort, we flew east. Remembering the void I had felt when raising the fort, I wanted to see what it was. What I found was a canyon that ran east and south. It was mostly grasslands but had a few trees. I didn't want to take time to fly over it all right now. I'd look at it when I got back from Rockspire, so we turned north.

  We flew over our supply caravan about a day's travel from the city. With those supplies added to what we have and what we had coming from Hackman, we were set for a good while.

  I decided to indulge myself at my favorite café. As sat enjoying my pastry and coffee, I could tell something wasn't exactly right. There was a tension in the air like everyone was waiting for something to happen.

  My server came to me, “Sir, we are closing — there is fighting in the streets on the north side of the city. You might want to head home and stay indoors until the army regains control.”

  “Who’s the army fighting?”

  “Foreign mercenaries — some say Blood Banker's mercenaries — are being unloaded from barges just north of the city. The bankers and their escort company arrived yesterday and went to the palace. News from there says they have taken over.”

  “Thank you,” I said. I paid my bill and left. As soon as I was out of sight I stepped into Shadow and headed to the palace. Blood Bankers were never good news, and an escort company was even less so.

  Arriving at the palace I found all the entrances guarded by mercs. I continued to see what I could find out and found a group in the throne room. The man on the throne was not King Joseph, nor the crown prince. Whoever he was, he was not happy.

  “What part of ‘bloodless’ do you not understand?!” he screamed. The person he was screaming at was another surprise, it was the spymaster I had locked in the dungeon.

  “They resisted, they and the royal guard fought, neither giving nor asking any quarter,” he answered, clenching, and unclenching his fists. “And if your battlemage,” the spymaster said pointing at a man to the side leaning on a staff with a large jewel at its top, “hadn't gotten overzealous and unleashed that fireball at the blockade, we may have been able to take some of them alive.” The battlemage had a smirk on his face.

  The person in the throne, who I now assumed was a Blood Banker, shook his head. “So, what you geniuses are telling me is, the king is dead, the queen is dead, the crown prince is dead, and two of the three princesses are dead?”

  The battlemage shrugged, saying nothing. “Well at least we have one princess left, there's a silver lining,” he said, sarcastically. No one spoke for a time. “Which princess lives?”

  “The third, my Lord Banker,” one of the blood mercs answered.

  The spymaster growled, “not that shrew!”

  “If you want to keep your tongue in your head and your head on your shoulders, I wouldn't make another sound,” The banker said, shaking his head. “What a mess! You, spymaster, were to have all this under control, with Lermont and one of the princesses married. What happened?”

  “I don't know, the last I heard was that Lermont and his captain had a falling out, and both went missing along with their treasury.”

  “So, another treasury has mysteriously gone missing. It seems the thief we are tracking is here after all.”

  “It's nice to be wanted, but I could have done without this attention,” I thought. “I'll take care of this bunch later … right now I better check on Princes Rayne.” On my way to the royal apartments, I saw the royal family's bodies laid out in a side room. They were all indeed dead. I stopped long enough to take King Joseph’s signet ring, figuring Rayne would need it.

  Chapter 28

  I left the side room and headed for Princess Rayne's quarters, then stopped as a thought struck me. “Well, if they are looking for a thief, I'd hate to disappoint them.” I went down to the treasury vault. There were Blood mercs guarding its doors. I Flowed by them, under the door and into the vault.

  This vault was much larger than any I had ever been in. The Shadows told me I was alone, so I stepped out and cast a flame behind me putting the whole vault in my Shadow, then drew in everything in the vault.

  “It's hard to rule a Kingdom without a treasury. It's going to be even harder without a princess.” I thought, heading for the princess’ quarters.

  There were Blood mercs outside and the Shadows said there were two more in her room as well. I went under the door and saw that the two meres stood at the balcony doors. Rayne sat on her bed, sporting two black eyes and a split lip.

  She also looked like she had a bad sun burn, and I guessed that came from a Fire Mage. She wasn't crying, and from the look on her face, she was in a killing rage.

  Seeing her in that condition sparked one in me as well. I took the Shadow Form of the two guards at the balcony, and their shadows cut their throats. Rayne's eyes went wide as their bodies dropped to the floor as they choked on their own blood.

  I stepped out of Shadow with my finger to my lips. She relaxed and nodded. I stepped back into Shadow and went under the door back out into the hall, then quickly disposed of those guards as well.

  I left their bodies in Shadow, and opened the door returning to Rayne, closing the door behind me.

  Rayne stood up, “my family is dead,” she said.

  I nodded, “I know. The King is dead, long live the Queen!” I said handing her the signet ring. She took it, looked at it a moment, then slipped it on her pointing finger. A tear ran down her cheek.

  “We need to go,” I said.

  “W
ho is responsible for this?” she asked through gritted teeth.

  “I'll talk while you change into traveling clothes.” She nodded and went to her wardrobe. I turned my back, watching the door while she dressed. “The leader is a representative from the Crimson Isles.”

  “The Blood Bankers? Why?” she asked.

  “I don't have the whole story yet, but Lermont was part of it, and so is the spymaster,” I answered. “The bankers back people to start wars so they can make loans. If there is peace for too long, they lose money, so they start a conflict on some excuse and the cycle starts again. Not only is the palace under siege, but in fact, it’s been captured. Enemy troops have landed north of the city and there is heavy fighting. I don't know how many are attacking, but hopefully your 25,000-man army can defeat them quickly.”

  “We don’t have a 25,000-man army …the most we have in the capital is 5,000.”

  I frowned, “I thought your father was dealing With Lermont to back him with a 25,000-man army?”

  “That never would have happened, whatever backing he got would have been a mix of our army and mercenaries,” she answered. “Wait, you said the spymaster was involved? He was supposed to have been executed, or so I was told.”

  “No, he's still alive and working with them. And from what I saw and heard, he's pretty high up in their organization.”

  She finished changing and walked around me. She had on sturdy, well-made clothes and boots, as well as a dagger on her belt, I hoped we didn't have to find out if she could use it. But I bet she could.

  “I need to get to my army — can you get us there? Is your invisibility spell strong enough for two and will it last that long?”

  I was torn. Based on past experiences, I was loath let anyone know about my abilities. I trusted people only so far, and it really wasn’t that far. But if I didn't help her, she would never make it to her army, let alone out of the palace.

  The Shadows told me men were coming, and we could hear their approach. She looked at the door then back at me. It was now or never. I took her hand and stepped us into Shadow.

  Soldiers burst through the door, and into the room. Rayne made to run away from them, and I let her go. “We're safe here,” I said.

  She looked out of the Shadow at the soldiers as they searched her apartment. “They can't see, hear, or touch us.” She looked around, then back out into her apartment. She seemed to relax somewhat, but still watched the soldiers carefully.

  “Make way,” came a shout from the hall. The Shadows told me the battlemage was coming. I didn't know how powerful he was, so I readied myself.

  He stepped into the room and when Rayne saw him, she pointed at him and said, “kill him!”

  I had planned to, just not yet. I concentrated on five men in the hall and took their Shadow forms. They attacked the other soldiers in the hall, and chaos broke out. Everyone, including the battlemage, turned toward the confusion and noise outside the apartment. Drawing my steel knife, I stepped out of Shadow and drove the knife up through the back of the battlemage's skull. I pulled him back into Shadow with me and laid his body on the floor.

  Rayne looked shocked that the killing had happened so fast. She stared at the battlemage's body, then sat down hard. “Are you all right?” I asked. She nodded mutely, staring at the body.

  The fighting in the hall continued until everyone was dead. Satisfied, I turned to search the mage and found that all his artifacts were now visible, as his magic died with him. He had a literal death grip on his staff, and I had to pry his fingers from it.

  He wore magic rings on every finger and an amulet around his neck. I removed them and set them to the side. I unbuckled his belt and rolled the body off the belt as well as a Mage Cloak.

  I checked his pants and shirt pockets. Satisfied I had missed nothing, I went back to the belt pouches and the cloak. The pouches held some everyday items, a few coins, and jewels. Checking the cloak, I saw that runes were sewn everywhere inside it.

  I noticed Rayne was watching me as I reached in one of the cloak pockets and felt a book, it seemed too large to put in a cloak pocket. pulling it out, I handed it to Rayne.

  She opened it, “it's his book of spells and magic,” she said thumbing through it. The pockets, which I now realized were enchanted so they could hold a basket full of stuff.

  My hand closed around something, and I pulled it out. It was a golden circlet, with runes and pictures inscribed around the inside. It reminded me of my weapon bracelet's pictures. But these were of a helmet, and all the pieces of a set of body armor. If it worked like my bracelets did, this was enchanted body army.

  I looked at the dead mage, “Idiot,” I said, placing the circlet on my head. I felt the magic react to my other artifacts, working together so I quickly put the circlet in Shadow so no one could see it.

  I picked up the staff. “See what his spell book says about his staff,” I said, laying the staff down beside her. I picked up the mage cloak and shook it. It looked like there was nothing inside, though I knew there was. Nothing seemed to stick to the cloak, no blood, no dirt, no dust. I laid it beside the staff. She had found the place in the book that talked about the staff and was reading.

  I picked up all the artifact jewelry, belt and pouch and sat down.

  While Rayne read, I looked at the artifacts. The amulet seemed to be for amplification and power storage. The other rings that I recognized were one guise, one healing, one for divination of some kind. The rest I could not tell. I put the divination ring and the others I didn't recognize in my pouch.

  “Put these on,” I said. I handed her the amulet, the healing ring, and the guise ring, telling her what they were. She took them, examined each one before putting them on.

  “The staff,” she said, picking the book back up, “is basically an amplification and protection staff. It amplifies what every spell you cast, or talent you have. For protection it shields you and stores some power from attacks. I'll need to study it more to know more than that.”

  “It's yours,” I said. “It will be more useful to you than me. You also get the belt and pouches, as well as the cloak.” She stood up and I handed her the staff. I fastened the belt and pouches around her fitting them to her smaller waist size as well as I could. I draped the cloak over her shoulders, and she fastened it at the collar, and as she did, it shifted to fit her smaller frame.

  “Now if you are ready, I think it's time to go find your army,” I said.

  She stood staring at me, I waited.

  “I do not wish to sound ungrateful, because I'm not. You have saved my life, or at least saved me from a miserable one. You returned my father's signet ring to me and killed the mage that killed my family. But who are you, Mason? Are you one of my subjects?”

  I smiled, “I'm no one's subject. And as to who I am, let's just say we share a common enemy. I'll get you safely to your army, after that, we'll see.

  She thought a moment looking out at her apartment then nodded, “Let's go.”

  I nodded holding my hand out to her. She took it, “don't let go,” I said. She nodded, one hand in mine the other on her Mage Staff. I walked us over to the balcony, “Close your eyes,” I said, and she did. I Shadow Flowed us down to the ground. “OK, you can open them now. She looked around nodding.

  I took it slow, walking then Shadow Jumping us from Shadow to Shadow. I wondered where the main part of her army might be. I didn't really want to take her to the north side of the city where the fighting was. But that was probably where we'd find the army — or at least part of it.

  The further north we traveled the more we could hear the sounds of fighting, then we started seeing flashes of light from Fire Mages launching their attacks.

  We came upon a fight at an intersection where a company of Rockspire troops were hard pressed on three sides. They were trying to break contact but were having a hard time of it.

  “Can we help them?” Rayne asked. I nodded and Shadow Flowed us around and behind the left-hand enem
y's men. Once at their rear, I took the rear most men's Shadow Form and started them killing their comrades.

  As one of mine would die, I'd take a fresh Shadow Form, and continue. It didn't take long for the men in front to realize that their rear was being attacked. Now they were fighting on two fronts. When the last enemy soldier fell that gave the Rockspire soldiers some relief.

  I Shadow Flowed us around behind the enemy on the next street and repeated my strategy of Shadow attacks. This group was larger and had a battlemage fighting with them. I couldn’t get close to him and he was doing a lot of damage.

  While my Shadows were fighting, I drew my mage bow and launched an arrow at the back of his head. The arrow exploded on his shields but knocked him to his knees and killed three soldiers closest to hm. I fired another arrow, which went through his weakened shields, killing him. The rest of his men were killed in short order.

  I Shadow Flowed us around behind the last group of enemy soldiers and started my Shadow Form attacks. “I need to help fight this group,” Rayne said, “because my soldiers need to see me fighting to get to them. They will accept me much better if they see me as a Battlemage, rather than a burdensome princess.”

  I nodded, “stop thinking of yourself as a burdensome princess. You are Battlemage Rayne, Queen of Rockspire,” I said. She squared her shoulders, set her face, and nodded to me.” I'll protect you, so you concentrate on your spells.” She nodded again.

  I hoped my new armor did what I thought it would. I stepped us out of Shadow and brought my shields up. My Shadow Forms were fighting all along the rear rank.

  I felt Rayne gathering her magic for an attack. When she did, it took the form of hundreds of ice shards which killed the rear two ranks of men. Including my Shadow Form attackers. No matter, I took more Shadow Forms and resumed the attack.

  Her attack did not go unnoticed. My shield began taking crossbow bolt and fire ball hits. Neither penetrated my shields, but the fireball exploded for quite a show.