Benjamin Ashwood Box Set 2

by A. C. Cobble

  As he and Adrick danced across the clearing, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Amelie and Prem squaring off as well. The young girl was just as quick as her father, and she used her two practice long knives with incredible precision. Amelie looked to be getting the worst of it, but Ben didn’t have time to observe their match. It was taking everything he had to avoid getting beaten like a dusty carpet during spring cleaning.

  For a bell, they sparred before finally, Adrick held up a hand to pause.

  Ben stopped, breathing ragged gasps of air. His torso was covered in raised red welts, but he was pleased to see half a dozen of them on the swordsman. The man was a blademaster and then some. Even when he wasn’t moving full speed, striking him was a victory in and of itself.

  “You are quite skilled, Ben,” claimed Adrick. “Maybe we will spar again. Soon, though, I believe you must meet with the council of elders. They have been discussing what to do with you this morning.”

  Prem and Amelie came to stand beside them, and the girl offered a tentative smile. Ben did not feel the warmth. It was impossible to ignore the ominous implications of the council meeting.

  Sparring with Adrick had taught Ben one valuable lesson, though. They wouldn’t be able to fight their way out of the place. The swordsman alone was formidable. Maybe the best Ben had ever faced. Better than Rhys or Saala, certainly. Ben would pay good gold to see Adrick and Lord Jason face off. If the other guardians trained with the swordsman, it was a safe assumption they’d be skilled as well. There was no way Ben and his friends could fight a village of them.

  Rhys came sauntering up, a sense of preparedness marking his every movement. It reminded Ben of the Rhys of old, before Northport, when the rogue had been ready anytime, anywhere. Hopefully, today, he wouldn’t need to be.

  Adrick nodded a goodbye and disappeared amongst the houses in the village.

  “Have you eaten? If not, I can find something for you,” offered Prem.

  Ben’s stomach grumbled and he was reminded that he hadn’t had breakfast that morning. As soon as dawn had broken, he and Amelie had walked to the rock overlooking the valley. A bell of hard sword practice had stirred his appetite into ravenous hunger.

  The girls grinned at the sound, and Ben flushed.

  “That would be wonderful,” responded Amelie.

  “Come with me then,” said Prem.

  She took them to a squat stone house and led them around to the back. A wooden pergola arched over a table and chairs. Wrist-thick vines grew up the wooden structure and draped the seating area in cool shade.

  “It’s a bit late in the year to eat outside,” admitted Prem, “but after sparring, I like to feel the breeze.”

  “Outside is good,” murmured Amelie. She was glancing around the village. They’d have an excellent view of it while they ate.

  “Great. I’ll be right back then,” said Prem.

  Ben, Amelie, and Rhys sat and studied their surroundings. The village was quiet, with only half of the buildings showing any signs of life. The other structures were well-maintained, though, with fresh thatch on the roofs and windows tightly shuttered. Several of the houses had small gardens near them, and from somewhere, Ben heard the comfortable sound of animals. Pigs and goats, he thought. A rooster had woken them at dawn, so there were unseen chickens stalking the village as well.

  He nudged Amelie and pointed to where Lady Towaal was slipping between houses. The mage was clearly snooping, but no one made a move to stop her. The houses that were occupied had doors and windows opened wide. The ones that didn’t seem occupied were tightly shut. Nearly all of the larger buildings were closed and dark, and at least while they watched her, Towaal wasn’t bold enough to try entering any of those.

  The people were dressed simply and, for the most part, ignored the presence of strangers. Whatever other secrets they concealed were buried deeper than the surface of the village. From what Ben could see, the place was a small but prosperous settlement, well maintained by its residents.

  Prem returned with a wide, wooden platter heaped with sausages, cheese, and bread.

  “The bread isn’t fresh, but it’s better than nothing,” she said with a grin. “Hold on. I’ll be back with water and wine. You do drink wine?”

  Amelie nodded. “Sometimes.”

  Ben snorted and she shot him a glare. Rhys grinned broadly but miraculously held his tongue. They tore into the stack of sausages and cheese while Prem ducked inside to get the wine. Surreptitiously, Ben kept glancing around the village while they ate. It was strangely quiet outside of the sounds of the animals.

  “You’re wondering where everyone is?” guessed Prem when she returned.

  Ben finished chewing a bite of tangy, white cheese and admitted, “It does seem strange. It feels like more people should be around. There are so many shuttered houses, but they look well-maintained.”

  “Less than half of us are here now,” murmured Prem.

  “Where are the others?” queried Amelie. She quickly added, “If that is okay to tell me.”

  Prem grimaced and pushed a hunk of sausage around on the platter. “That is no secret. They are fighting the dark forces.”

  Ben blinked. “The dark forces, like, demons?”

  The girl nodded. “Demons, goblins, whatever comes at them. There is a place on the northwestern edge of this forest where the space between our worlds is thin. The creatures come through there, and we must meet them.”

  “Like the rift in the Wilds!” exclaimed Ben.

  “Yes,” agreed the girl, giving Ben a surprised look. “Like the rift in the Wilds. That rift is gone, though, somehow destroyed. It left our forest, the one in the east, and the tunnel across the Empty Sea as the vulnerable locations in this world. If those rifts could be closed, it would be a great victory, but with the node lines weakened, it is a huge risk now. We must hold our position or the dark forces could enter the nodes and travel all over this continent. It would be utter chaos.”

  “Node lines?” wondered Ben.

  Prem gave him a tight-lipped smile, and he understood that was venturing into a forbidden topic.

  “You’re like the hunters in the Wilds,” speculated Amelie.

  The girl picked at her food. “What we do is similar.”

  “If this battle is so important, why are you and Adrick Morgan here?” asked Ben. “He’s the best swordsman I’ve ever seen. If he were to face the demons, surely he’d make a difference.”

  “He wants to go, but he must stay.” A bittersweet smile twisted Prem’s lips. She paused and then looked around the village to see if anyone was near. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but he is required to be here. Without him, the Elder would fail, and much of our magic would be lost.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Amelie.

  “My father is strong, full of life. The Elder is weak, at the end of his,” explained Prem. “The Elder uses my father as a source of life to sustain himself, like a crutch. If my father was to travel too far from him, the Elder will lose the connection.”

  “Why doesn’t the Elder go to the front line then?” wondered Ben.

  “He will,” said Prem, “when the end comes.”

  After they ate, Ben, Amelie, and Rhys left to find Towaal. They gathered her and huddled together inside the building where they’d spent the night.

  “Find anything out?” asked Ben as they settled in the room.

  “I found more questions than I did answers,” muttered Towaal. “How about you?”

  “We sparred with the swordsman Adrick and his daughter,” explained Amelie. She related everything they’d found out from the two of them.

  “Everything we’ve been told checks out with everything I was able to discover walking around,” stated Towaal.

  “Which, is a bit shocking for a group that prides itself on so much secrecy,” declared Rhys.

  Ben smirked. “They don’t think we’ll leave.”

  Rhys cracked his knuckles.

  “You saw
me spar with that man,” reminded Ben. “If there are more like him, we wouldn’t get far, and let’s not forget whatever mages they have who were able to set wards in the forest that Towaal and Amelie couldn’t sense.”

  Towaal nodded grimly. “The old man is powerful, and elsewhere in this village, I sensed strength like I have rarely felt. I do not think fighting our way out is a viable option.”

  “Can they really be stronger than Eldred?” wondered Rhys, his fingers absentmindedly toying with his long knives. “With proper planning, we defeated her. These people have to sleep sometime.”

  Towaal sat back in her chair and shook her head. “I estimate there are over three hundred people living in this village. Dozens of them may have talent, not to mention their martial skills.”

  “We’re not fighting them,” stated Ben, trying to bring the discussion to an end.

  “What do we do then?” challenged Rhys. “You want us to wait until they decide to slaughter us? You saw what that man did to the pirates. He didn’t even give them a chance to speak.”

  “These people are worried about ancient secrets and old powers getting out into the world,” responded Ben, meeting his friends’ eyes. “They’re worried, just like we are about Eldred and what the Veil did to her. They’re fighting the dark forces, just like we are. They want to find out what happened to Gunther, just like we do. I think there’s a lot they could help us with, and maybe we can convince them that we could return the favor.”

  Amelie smiled. “We need to give them a reason to need us.”

  “Exactly,” said Ben.

  “Do you have any ideas of how we do that?” inquired Towaal.

  “The things these people have been trying to prevent are happening right now out in the world,” answered Ben. “Let’s tell them about it. We can tell them that the demons are swarming uncontrollably. Tell them the Veil and Avril are awakening ancient evils, and that if we don’t act, the Veil will get the wyvern fire staff. If they mean what they say about helping Alcott, then they have no choice but to help us.”

  “There are some uncomfortable details we may want to avoid,” suggested Towaal.

  “They don’t need to know everything,” Ben agreed, “but we should tell them enough to know we aren’t the enemy.”

  “Are you sure we aren’t their enemy?” asked Rhys.

  Ben shrugged.

  With the decision made, they left the house to find the council of elders. It wasn’t difficult. It was the one building with a guard out front.

  The man looked like a jealous cousin of Adrick Morgan and he cemented the notion in Ben’s head when he growled as they approached. “I heard you sparred with the Lightblade. How did that go?”

  Ben blinked at him.

  “Adrick Morgan, the Lightblade,” said the man. “I heard he bested you in the practice yard.”

  “He did,” Ben responded, laughing. He hooked a thumb toward Rhys. “He’s been training me for a year now, but I’m nowhere close to where I want to be. At least I got a few more strikes in on Adrick than I normally do when I spar this one.”

  The guard frowned, and Rhys winked at him.

  “We’d like to speak to the elders,” said Amelie.

  The guard drew his shoulders back and puffed out his chest. “The elders are in council and aren’t to be disturbed. They’ll let you know when they make a decision.”

  “To kill us or not?” snapped Rhys.

  The guard glared back at the rogue.

  “No problem,” said Ben. He turned to go and then over his shoulder mentioned, “By the way, can you let them know that a wyvern fire staff is on its way to the Sanctuary? I haven’t seen it in use myself, but I’m told that it has the ability to destroy an entire city.”

  The man blinked at him but did not move to go inside.

  “I’m sure the Veil only has altruistic plans for it, and it was merely a coincidence the undead mage she sent after us was using one of your node keys to move through your forest undetected. Probably nothing to worry about. If the elders decide to kill us, I’m sure they’ll be able to learn about these things from the next group of strangers who arrive in this village, assuming the Veil doesn’t get here first with her wyvern fire, of course.”

  Ben started to lead his friends away when the guard finally climbed over his ego and thought better about keeping those bits of information from the elders.

  “Hold here while I go inside,” he barked. “I’ll tell the elders what you said. You stay there!”

  Ben smiled pleasantly at the man. “Of course.”

  Moments later, the man returned and beckoned them inside.

  They were led into an open, circular room, which made Ben wonder how they fit it inside the square building. The walls were covered in chalk drawings of strange symbols. They appeared to have been wiped away and redrawn over and over again, or maybe, refined as the mages in the council studied them. The roof was stone, fashioned into a dome which rose far above their heads. There were no windows, no openings, save a small hole at the top.

  The council was half a dozen people, all men and all ancient appearing. They dressed the same as the rest of the village, and to Ben’s eye, there was nothing to tell their status except for their apparent age, which he guessed didn’t tell the half of it. The oldest of the men, the one they’d met the night before, spoke first.

  “I’m told you know of wyvern fire. That is banned knowledge and is punishable by death.”

  “Isn’t everything?” jested Ben. The elders on the council didn’t laugh, so he continued, “We do know of wyvern fire, but our knowledge isn’t your problem. Your problem is what will someone do with wyvern fire. Right now, a young man is approaching the City with a staff that generates the stuff. He’s intending to give it to the Veil. She could be back here in two weeks with the device. Will your wards protect you from that kind of power?”

  “Our safety is not your concern,” responded the elder crisply.

  Ben snorted. “It’s not your safety I’m warning you about. If you were to be vaporized by wyvern fire, who will watch over the power of the First Mages?”

  Around the table, the elders shuffled.

  “Without your support, who will fight the dark forces?” pressed Ben. “The Veil already turned down the opportunity to meet them in the Wilds. I doubt she’ll be any more open to the idea in this forest.”

  The old man frowned at him.

  Ben kept talking, not letting the elders have a chance to interrupt. “All of the banned knowledge you are worried about us knowing is actually being used in the world outside of this forest. You don’t need to be concerned about what could happen. You need to be concerned about what is happening right now!”

  “You want us to let you go?” asked one of the elders slowly. The man had a bald pate and bushy white eyebrows that threatened to hide his eyes.

  Ben blinked at him, unsure if it was a serious question.

  “Of course they want to leave, Faeger,” answered the eldest, the one they’d met the night before.

  Adrick, surprising Ben who hadn’t seen him, stepped out of shadows against one wall. “This young man with the staff, you say he is in the forest?”

  “He left several days before us. I’d guess he’s halfway through the woods now.”

  Adrick turned to the council. “Let me go. I will find this boy and stop him. I’ll recover the staff and bring it here.”

  The old man shook his head. “Even you cannot stand alone against wyvern fire. In the old days, when it was first used, the only way to bring down a mage who could call it was to work as a team. The heat is such that it can only be directed in a very narrow funnel, or it will destroy the person using it. An attack must come from multiple fronts, preventing the wielder from turning the flame against all of the attackers.”

  “Prem and I—” started Adrick.

  The old man held up his hand. “You would sacrifice your daughter or yourself? The fire cannot be directed in two directions at once, but
certainly, it will be used on one of the attackers.”

  Grim-faced, Adrick shuffled his feet nervously. “We will do what we must.”

  “No, I think there is a better way,” declared the old man. He turned back to Ben. “You are certain this staff can call wyvern fire? Have you seen it used?”

  “I am certain,” declared Ben, skirting the truth. “It was recovered from the Purple’s fortress on the South Continent.”

  The old man frowned at Ben.

  “The staff is real,” continued Ben, “but it is only part of the threat. The Veil is using death magic to raise undead mages. The former Veil, Lady Avril, is still alive and plotting. The demons are swarming in the north, overtaking towns and wreaking havoc. The Alliance and the Coalition are gearing for an intercontinental war. You can sit here in your quiet village, pretending you are saving the world, but you’re hiding from the real threats. Every moment you delay us only increases the risk of complete disaster. If you don’t let us leave, before long, there may not be anyone left to keep your secrets from.”

  Blank-faced, the old man studied Ben.

  Ben started to wonder if he’d gone too far. Moments passed, and Ben shifted uneasily.

  The swordsman, Adrick Morgan, cleared his throat.

  The old man shot him a warning look and then turned to address his fellow elders.

  “The boy is right,” he admitted.

  Several voices spoke up in protest, but the old man cut them off with a glare.

  “It’s been too long since we’ve left our forest,” he rasped. “Our mission is to retain the knowledge and power of the First Mages, to keep it safe for when it’s required, to ensure that it does not fall into the wrong hands, but how do we know it’s safe? How do we know it is not already in the wrong hands and our actions are only allowing it to spread further?”

  Around the table, wrinkled, old men muttered under their breath and eyed each other uncomfortably.

  “Many of you are old enough to remember a time before we founded this village,” continued the elder. “A time when there was more than one First Mage, when our role was to find and remove dangerous knowledge from the world. We were thorough, we believed, and then we retreated into our shell. It may be time to venture out again, to find threats and protect against them. What is our purpose if we do not do this?”