by Jamie Davis
Hooking a finger inside the hammered gold broach holding the moss-green cloak firmly around his neck, Hal tried to shift the heavy cloak forward to take more of the weight on his shoulders. It sort of worked.
“I feel naked.”
“You look dressed to me, thank the gods,” Kay snorted.
“You can say whatever you want. You’ve got some armor on at least.”
Kay brushed a hand down the shining shirt of chainmail hanging down to just above her knees. Her sword belt pulled it in over her hips, securing the armor in place above the chausses protecting her thighs and the greaves below that.
“You heard what Tildi said. No armor. Come to think of it; I never recall seeing any mage wear armor of any kind.”
“Yeah, that’s just what I want to hear when I’m headed out into the northern wastes inhabited by tribes of barbarians and monsters of various sorts. Thanks.”
“No problem,” Kay chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from the bad men.”
“Very funny.”
A rap at the door interrupted them. It opened to reveal Tildi and several servants carrying bulging backpacks and pouches.
“Set them down over there and give us some privacy,” Tildi gestured to the canopied bed in the corner.
The servants complied and pulled the door closed behind them as they left. Tildi held up a finger to her lips as she crept to the door and put an ear against it. She nodded once and muttered something under her breath, pointing her index finger at a spot on the wood at shoulder height. The mage’s finger glowed then flashed with a bright white light.
A muffled yelp from the other side of the carved door drew a smile to Tildi’s lips.
“There, now the eavesdropper is attended to. We can talk in private.”
“How did you know one of the servants would linger behind to listen to our conversation?” Hal asked. “Are they alright?”
“He’ll be hearing nothing but the ringing in his ears for a few days, but it will fade with time. I always assume the servants in these places are listening in on private conversations. Most palace servants I’ve known deal in information. It’s a good way to supplement their income and idle gossip spread around social circles is usually harmless enough. What we’re planning is more important, however.”
The mage turned from the door, seeming satisfied they wouldn’t be overheard. She gave Hal an appraising stare from head to toe and back again.
“You’ll do, I suppose. You’re wearing better clothes than I remember having as an apprentice.”
“I still feel exposed without some decent armor on me.”
“No armor, not even leather. Feeling exposed and vulnerable is good for an apprentice mage. It’ll keep you alive a little longer.”
“But why?”
“Because magic is finicky and doesn’t like things that get in the way of the casting. Bulky armor that constricts movement, iron and other metals, even jewelry can impact the ability of a new mage to cast spells successfully. You don’t need distractions from what needs to be done right now, my boy. I get the feeling you’re going to be a difficult enough pupil for me and my companions.”
“I’m an excellent student. I’ve always gotten good grades. Not the best, mind you, but respectable. I’ll learn what you have to teach.”
“Really? You’ve already failed the first lesson, Hal. You must give up your preconceptions about how the world works. That starts with following instructions without complaint.”
“You sound like you’re about to say, ‘there is no try, there is only do or do not.’”
“I wasn’t but it’s not a bad way to put things. I’ll have to borrow that one. Who said it?”
Hal rolled his eyes. He was kidding but had to admit he felt a little like trainee Luke getting dressed down by Yoda for questioning the little green man’s teachings.
“It was from a movie. Never mind.”
“Hal, you’re not going to be hacking your way through obstacles anymore for a while. You need to finesse your way around things now. That is the way mages and wizards solve challenges. Magic has strict rules and often the solution requires the mage to think of ways the rules can be turned on their heads without breaking them. You can’t afford to have anything distracting you from concentrating on the magic you’re trying to cast.”
“But I don’t even know how to cast anything yet. Shouldn’t I protect myself in the meantime? At least until I start learning.”
“We’ll start on the trip north. I can open a portal to get us close to Ragnar’s tribal lands but we’ll have to travel several days in the wastes from there to his camp. I’ll work with you while we ride. If I turn you over to him without any preparation at all, he’ll never let me live it down.”
“Fine, what’s my first lesson?” Hal crossed his arms.
“Ho Ho? So, that’s the way you’re going to be? Very well. Hold this.”
Tildi held out a translucent, polished white crystal the size of a grape. Hal took it and yelped in pain at the icy cold emanating from it.
“Why didn’t you warn me it was so cold?”
“Why didn’t you ask?” Tildi replied. “Don’t put that away. You must hold it in your hand until you master its properties.”
“What does it do?” Hal turned the crystal in his fingers, catching the light, moving it from hand to hand to avoid the burning chill that permeated the object. It was going to be a pain to hold on to this with his bare hands.
“It’s a northern scrying crystal. They’re very rare since they’re made of pure ice magic, held together by very strong spells of protection and warding. Ragnar’s going to be annoyed when he finds out I’ve been holding out on him.”
“How does it work?” The milky depths of the translucent gemstone gathered the light from around him to glow in his fingers. Either that or it had light of its own emanating from within.
“I have no idea. It takes pure ice magic to activate it. Hopefully, Ragnar can tell you how to use it. Once you master its use, it should allow you to see your family and make sure they are still alive. That will be the first part of your quest to learn magic. Master enough ice magic under Ragnar’s tutelage to operate the crystal. Once you’ve done that you will be ready for the next test of your abilities.”
Tildi raised her arms and stared just over Hal’s shoulder, her eyes wide as she opened her hands in a pretty good rendition of jazz hands. A gust of cold wind blew past him, rustling the weighted hem of his cloak around his boots. A chill ran down Hal’s spine and pulled the edges of his cloak close about him as he turned to see where Tildi was looking.
Hal’s eye’s widened in shock to see an opening in the palace wall through which flakes of swirling snow blew, settling to the finely woven carpet on the floor below. He was about to ask Tildi where they were looking when someone shoved him from behind and he stumbled from the flat, stable stones of the palace’s floor to the uneven, snow-covered ground of this northern plain.
Struggling to remain on his feet, Hal put a hand out to steady himself on a boulder nearby, almost dropping the crystal in the process. The wind gusted around him, whistling in his ears as if trying to teach him a strange, eerie tune.
From far away, a voice called out to him. It was Tildi, still standing back in the palace bedroom. She was the one who pushed him through.
“Concentrate on the crystal. It can work the cold around you, drawing it in and channeling it outward as well. When you master the art of staying warm in a few days, Kay and I will catch up to you.”
“Tildi, I’ll freeze to death out here.”
“That is a distinct possibility, my boy. But, if you do, then who will save your wife and daughter from the Emperor’s plans? Once he figures out what they represent, he’ll use the magic all three of you hold to take over the world once and for all. He’ll kill you in the process of extracting the magic. My suggestion is you take my advice and learn from your earlier mistakes. You can do it, or not — there is no try.”
Tildi threw her head back and laughed at the joke she made at his expense with his own earlier reference. She waved her hand in front of her and before Hal could call out to her, the portal snapped shut, leaving him standing in knee deep snow, shivering hard enough to rattle his teeth in his head.
Quest offered — Access the magic of the crystal. Avoid freezing to death.
Do you accept the quest?
Hal blinked his eyes against the blast of icy wind threatening to turn his eyeballs into frozen globes in his skull. The quest prompt remained plastered across his vision even with his eyes closed.
“Y-y-yes, I accept the q-q-quest.”
Quest accepted.
Cold damage - 18 points
Damn, this was starting to hurt. He had to work fast. Pulling up his stats, Hal looked at the magic user class abilities. There had to be something there to use to energize the crystal or whatever he was supposed to do.
He noticed right away the mage class abilities and levels were not set up like the thief or warrior classes. Instead of levels, he had the four schools or elements of magic beneath his core attributes. There was also a blank space below the four elemental forms of magic with a question mark. Perhaps he was supposed to unlock that space at some point.
Name: Hal Dix
Class: Mage
Level: 1
Attributes:
Brawn: 24 — +9
Wisdom: 8
Luck: 28
Speed: 14 — +3
Looks: 8
Health: 98/116
Character Skills: Chakra Regeneration - 3 (heal 18hp; 1/day)
Mage Experience: 0/300
Ice Elemental School: locked
Earth Elemental School: locked
Fire Elemental School: locked
Wind Elemental School: locked
Unknown Elemental School: locked
Warrior Experience: 161,100/250,000
Rogue Experience: 146,100/250,000
The big zero next to the ice elemental magic school flashed signaling it was active in some way. Maybe he could level up there in some way to activate the crystal so Tildi and Kay would catch up with the winter clothes and supplies he’d need to stay alive out here in the middle of nowhere.
He couldn’t believe they’d leave him out here alone like this. This was just a test. It had to be. Soon, Tildi would open the portal again and he’d tell her he’d learned a valuable lesson. What good would it do anyone if he died out here because he froze to death before he could learn to use ice magic?
Cold damage - 14 points
He dropped the crystal then, as his shivering shook the small stone from his hands and into the snow at his feet. Hal’s blue and trembling fingers worked in the air to catch it before it disappeared into the snow, tunneling a tiny hole down into the powdery frozen fluff at his feet.
Hal fell to his knees as the frigid wind blew against his exposed skin. Needles of air drove into his face and hands while he dug around the small hole the crystal made as it fell from his grasp into the deep powder snow.
It had to be in there somewhere.
The more he dug, however, the more he disturbed the fluffy snow. Before he knew it, he found himself packing it down, obscuring and covering the area where the crystal had fallen.
Cold damage - 21 points
Blinking away the searing pain he now felt in his cold fingers when he touched the snow, Hal tried to scoop away the snow, sifting it between his shaking fingers, trying to locate the crystal. He saw the snow pass through his extended fingers. No longer pink or even reddened by the cold, they were now turning white as the blood flow left his hands in the cold.
Hal shook his head. Strange how he could see the snow in the bottom of the shallow hole as he dug but the cold crystals left no trace of feeling in his fingertips anymore, just the biting sting of the cold down to his bones.
Hal blinked his eyes to clear away the tears. A combination of deep aching pain and the biting wind in his face brought the tears to his eyes. The tiny, salty drops froze to his cheeks in twin icy streams down his face.
He didn’t know why he was even looking for the crystal anymore. It wasn’t like he was going to be able to do anything with it once he found it. His fingers were stiffening now, the frozen white claws at the ends of his arms might as well have belonged to someone else. They no longer did his bidding.
Hal was pretty sure frostbite was setting in, meaning he was going to lose his fingers if not his hands from the exposure to the cold. He snorted a weak chuckle. He couldn’t bring himself to care.
It was over.
Cold damage - 16 points
Just about to give up, Hal caught a glimpse of something glowing blue-white in the snow at the bottom of the shallow pit he’d dug there.
Dropping to his knees, Hal reached in and scooped his crippled hands together. His fingers wouldn’t move so he tried to get his palms under the crystal he’d exposed.
Hope caught him once more. He had to live.
Cold damage - 18 points
Desperation drove him onward despite the pain. He must live to save Mona and Cari.
Leaning over, he managed to get his cupped hands under the crystal and lift it out of the hole in the snow. Relief flooded through him as he saw the crystal roll into his palms and lift upward. A final tear fell from his eyes as he leaned over the crystal. Freezing in mid-air, it dropped and then shattered against the round, milky crystal Hal lifted from the ground.
Pale, muted blue light flared from his palm at the instant the frozen tear hit the crystal.
Quest achieved — crystal unlocked with the frozen fluid of one’s greatest fear.
300 experience points.
New spelled learned — resist cold.
Level up!
Hal clutched the crystal between his frozen palms and rolled over onto his back, staring upward at the dark northern sky at the swirling snow dropping from the dark clouds above.
He started laughing and concentrated on the new glowing ability. He’d done it, but he wasn’t in the clear yet.
Cold damage - 12 points
Concentrating, Hal focused on the ability to resist the crippling cold. He struggled to remain conscious, awake, as everything became still. Even his shivering stopped.
That was bad.
His life slipping from his frozen grasp, Hal renewed his attack against the frigid chill that threatened to overwhelm him once and for all.
Channeling his little remaining energy into the newly unlocked magic, a blossom of blue-white light opened at his core and a strange sensation spread through him from his center outward.
It wasn’t a feeling of warmth as he’d expected.
Instead, it was as if he pushed the cold away from himself. He wasn’t controlling the heat. He wrestled against the intangible cold pressing it out from his center until the biting chill of the frozen tundra around him no longer touched his body.
Hal’s fingers moved again, though he cried out at the pain of returning circulation. It was a cry mixed with joy, alongside the dull ache of feeling seeping back into his frozen nerves.
Hal laughed aloud, his voice piercing the swirling wind and snow in the darkness.
He’d not die out here after all.
He was going to live.
He was going to be an ice mage.
5
The first night was the worst.
Every time Hal drifted off to sleep, his control over the tiny glimmer of ice magic he could access would slip away. The cold instantly insinuated itself back into his exposed skin and threatened to overwhelm him once again.
He found a place beneath a scrub pine where the boughs formed a natural break against the wind and snow. He burrowed into the hollow beneath the branches and it was a little better. At least the wind didn’t reach him there.
Hal sat at the base of that tree throughout the long hours of the northern winter’s night, rocking back and forth to remain awake. The black cloak, which had seemed s
o heavy when he first put it on, now seemed pitifully inadequate, even with his new-found resistance to the cold.
Knowing he had to stay awake at all costs, Hal tried to discern the source of the tiny ball of magical energy that he could now see in his mind’s eye, centered in his chest. To him, it looked like a blue gas flame, flickering in the darkness at his core.
It took him a while to hold the cold flame in view. He found he could do it best with his eyes closed and his chin pressed down against his chest. From this position, the flame flickered and wavered as if touched by an invisible wind.
Drawing on some of the meditation techniques taught him by his monk friend, Rune, Hal tried to reach out with his mind and touch the cold fire at his core.
At first, it eluded him.
The harder he reached, the farther away the blue flame seemed.
Hal struggled and pushed for a long time before it occurred to him to try a different tack.
Relaxing, Hal stopped reaching toward the light and instead tried to invite the fire deeper into himself.
Right away, Hal was rewarded with a strengthening of the light. The flame grew brighter, stronger and ceased flickering.
As the light of the sun brightened on the horizon, after hours of time alone with the ice magic within himself, Hal discovered a sort of semi-trance where he could remain in contact with the magic. He could now resist the cold and still rest enough to try some healing.
Engaging his chakra healing skill and meditating, Hal was able to begin the process of recovery from his near-death experience of the night before.
18 health points regained.
It wasn’t much, but he instantly felt a little strength returning. The southern sky brightened a bit more and Hal remembered he likely only had a few short hours of what amounted to daylight in which to find some food and rig a better shelter.