by Guy Antibes
“Invaders!” the wizard cried. Norra didn’t care as fire began to climb up the canvas canopy. She withdrew and managed to stick two of the slavers before the others could get up. Gristan would have to divert the rest.
“Gristan, here!” She ran towards the tent and confronted a large man in his underclothes, holding a heavy-looking sword.
“You are the other one, eh? Surrender quietly. Your value is significantly higher without fatal wounds.” He laughed quietly. The man’s eyes spoke of an evil life.
She wasn’t in the mood to talk. Behind her, men cried out in horror. Gristan must be doing his thing. The big man lunged and the weight of his blade turned Norra’s wrist. It hurt, but she carried on. She tried to get into a rhythm as they danced around the camp. His footwork was alien to her and she couldn’t manage to get the upper hand.
A lance of flame shot past her and she had to invoke the protection spell as she fended the man off. Her movements became slower as the bubble sapped her energy. More bolts splashed against the bubble, spreading across the surface. Her opponent’s arm slipped through the bubble and she could smell the singing of the hair on his arm.
Norra continued to move around. She caught a movement behind her and the wizard’s hand penetrated the bubble. She turned around and slashed at the wizard’s wrist. He fell to the ground, clutching his hand. The wizard looked at her and muttered a spell, but when he threw it, Norra ducked and, whatever it was, hit the other. Her opponent fell to the earth senseless. Norra wasted no time and thrust the point of her sword into the wizard, who fell to the ground, his eyes rolling up in his head.
Clint picked up his sword. Anger replaced the sleep in his eyes. “Now I can take you on, little lady, and really show you how a man fights.” He attacked her in the old familiar way on the boat.
Norra knew his style so well that when he thrust, she ducked and hooked his foot with her own, using a shaker’s dance step, and tugged. Clint staggered, off balance, and that gave Norra the opportunity to skewer Lily’s kidnapper. She did it without hesitation, feeling like she had just done a good deed for the world.
The leader’s tent was at her back. She glanced down to see the leader in the early stages of reviving himself. She hesitated, feeling panic, but she took a deep breath and pulled down the cloth door of the tent and ran in.
Lily struggled to talk, but the gag kept her from making a sound. Norra cut the gag and sliced one arm free as quickly as she could and then went to work, cutting Lily’s leg bindings. She leaned over Lily, cutting up from her feet. Lily pulled her sword from the scabbard on Norra’s back. She saw the light from the burning wagon coming through the opening flap, brightening the far side of the tent.
“I have you now,” the leader said, behind her back. He hadn’t died out on the ground, after all. Hearing so much menace in his voice, Norra nearly fainted.
She turned around and tangled herself on the man’s discarded robes. A spear of pain ran through her leg as the man’s sword pierced her thigh. She cringed, waiting for the last thrust. In her mind, she said goodbye to her father.
She heard a grunt just above her and then the slaver’s weight fell on top of her. Norra fainted.
~~~~
Chapter Thirteen
The Road Southwest
~
“Lily, our heroine is awake.” The voice of Gristan cheered Norra to the soul as she opened her eyes.
She felt the wagon stop and saw Lily’s face above her. A sling went around Lily’s neck and another band tied her upper arm to her chest.
“You’re hurt too,” Norra felt so weak. “Can I have some water?”
Lily struggled with a waterskin and spilled half of the water down Norra’s face. They both laughed.
“We made it. What about the other men?”
“I had to take care of a very poor swordsman, left-handed,” a grim look replaced the smile, “and Gristan scared the other two off.
“So you must have killed the leader?”
“I did. If you hadn’t tied my sword to your back, I’d be a slave and you’d be joining Clint in a shallow grave.”
“Clint. His greed did him in. Where did you get this wagon?”
“Once I bound your wound, I loaded all of the good stuff in here. You needed some padding to rest, didn’t you?” Lily gave Norra a crooked smile. “I also found our sack and another purse with much more underneath their leader’s sleeping pallet.” Lily shivered.
“I gave up out there.” Lily looked out the back. “I wanted to die. To put a knife though my heart so I wouldn’t be a slave.” Tears welled in her eyes. “But I couldn’t. I wanted to live, Norra. Living. I had a chance. If I killed myself, I’d give up that chance forever.”
Norra took her hand. She wanted to hug Lily and give her comfort and receive comfort in return. But neither could embrace the other. “I wanted to save you, even if I had to die and become like our good friend Gristan.”
The ghost looked on. “I never was much for group hugs. My mother and sisters would do it and it just repulsed me. But if I ever saw three people who needed one, it appears to be us and neither one can help the other.”
Norra laughed through her own tears. “I think we need to get going.”
~
Norra hadn’t realized it, but the slavers were only a couple of miles up from the south turnoff. Lily hobbled the horses and let them graze by the river while they waited for the caravan to come to them.
As the first wagons passed them, Kendro rode up to the wagon and poked his head inside from the rear, spying Norra. He took the hat off his head and waved it. “I noticed my horse hobbled and enjoying some local forage. Great work! I honestly didn’t think you had it in you, girl.” They all laughed as Norra truly realized she really had rescued Lily and they would be on their way to Yulga’s Pass.
“I wouldn’t say we came through it unscratched,” Lily said.
“No. Do you need a healer? I’ll get one to you. I’ve got to drive the caravan on.” A surprised look covered his face. “What are you lying on? Is that slaver booty?”
Norra looked beneath her. “I suppose it is.”
“I’ll send another to look it over. I am a merchant as well, you know.” He grinned at Norra and Lily. “Perhaps we will meet another time. By the way, keep your horse,” Kendro looked at the grazing animals. “By the way, I found a man who would help Bloggo for free. Farewell!”
Two thirds of the wagons rolled past them until they spotted Herran driving their wagon with Bloggo.
“Namen?” Lily said as soon as the wagon was in earshot.
“He still sleeps, but peacefully,” Herran said as he pulled up beside their wagon. “Your shoulder! Where is Norra?” She could hear the anxiety in his voice.
“I am alive,” she said, nearly yelling so he could hear.
He popped his head in from the front. “What happened to your thigh?”
“Better my leg than my heart.” Norra knew she was lucky. “Lily killed him before he could make another thrust. Can we camp here for the night?” Norra said. “While we wait for Kendro’s men, we can tell you all about it.” Which they did.
“Clint’s dead, eh?” Herran said after they finished with their story. I can’t cry my eyes out for the fellow. A bad, bad piece of work. Let’s see, a thief, kidnapper, slaver and lucky for Bloggo, not a murderer this time. He didn’t really fool you, did he, Norra?”
She turned red. “No. That’s why I wanted you along.”
Herran nodded and put his hand over hers. “I only wish I was here. You shouldn’t have had to rescue Lily by yourself.”
“I didn’t. Remember Gristan.”
“Is he here?” Herran looked around. “Oh there you are.”
Gristan poked his head out of a cloth wall. “The wagon is too large for us all and I alone can cure that.” They all laughed.
Norra looked at her hands and folded them. “What did you learn before you left us?”
Herran brightened. “Deli
a’s village is on the way to Yulga’s Pass. You’ll be amazed at her fortune. She really is a queen of a village of natives. That’s all I can say. I was traveling pretty fast. Actually your other helper, Cloud, told me where she ended up. I don’t think he’ll want to be around when Namen wakes.”
“I’ve decided to take him to the pass,” Lily said. “I can’t stand to see him just lying there. Bloggo can help. I’ll just take one of the wagons.”
“No need, Lily. I have a confession to make.” Herran smiled and paused long enough to make them uncomfortable. Then he grinned. “You see I am a bit of a wizard myself.”
“You are?” Norra said, wondering why he didn’t say that before. She didn’t like his withholding such an important piece of information.
“I am descended from Yulga, remember? My great-uncle is too, but he doesn’t have any talent. The maps are why he went into the business.” He looked at Norra’s wound and clicked his tongue. “This is beyond me other than to purify the wound a bit, however, I may know enough to bring Namen around. I could have done it earlier, but I was too worried about what happened to you two and he won’t worry about extra sleep in his condition.”
Norra narrowed her eyes. “He’s a mage that is fighting wizards. Would he want to fight you, too?”
“He has no reason to fight me. Actually, he has quite a reputation among the other mages. There aren’t that many mages outside of the Nine. Less than one hundred and he’s the only one who has tried to stop the fighting. He may have designs on Polda’s lands after the Mages take over, if they do, but, at least the information I have is that he’d rather do it with the land and people intact.”
Lily let out her breath. Everyone looked at her. “Well, I wouldn’t want a wizard fight here. It’s bad enough having him follow us for hundreds and hundreds of miles only to join our group.”
“I suspect his curiosity has overcome him in the case of Norra and I certainly don’t blame him.” Herran smiled at Norra. He crawled over all of the booty and climbed out the back. “Let’s wake him up.”
“I hope you don’t mind if I don’t follow.” Norra stayed where she lay.
~
Herran
Bloggo opened the back flap and Herron helped Lily into the wagon. Namen rested peacefully.
“He looks so much younger, asleep,” Lily said.
“I don’t suppose he’s more than a few years older than you are, but his power and personality add years to his visage.” Herran held the mage’s hand and closed his eyes. He intoned a verse and waved his other palm over the mage’s body and then did it again using a different verse.
Waking Namen could bring on some very unpleasant consequences. Herran wasn’t particularly proud of the game he played with the little troupe, but he was more effective away from them helping, than he would have been in their midst except for the unthinkable, which happened.
Norra had to save Lily. Norra impressed him with her fortitude. When he first met her, he thought her party didn’t have a chance in Port Torell and his mission would be compromised at the docks. Chance saved him of that. The discovery of her power forced Norra to grow up much too soon. He only hoped her experience fighting the slavers didn’t harden her beyond endurance.
“Two spells?” Bloggo said. Herran realized the servant was very, very sharp. He must have worked for Namen for a long time. A normal person wouldn’t have caught his two incantations.
“There must have been two wizards because he’s been felled by two spells that I had to reverse,” Herran said and then he shook Namen gently.
“Wake up, mage.”
Namen stirred and Lily let out a sigh of relief. He opened his eyes and lifted his head and blinking towards the light at the back of the wagon.
“Wizards?” He looked at Bloggo, who nodded.
“You’ve been sleeping for the night and all of the day. Slavers stole Lily and Norra went after them and rescued her.”
“Norra? She isn’t here?” Namen looked at Herran. “You seem familiar, but I can’t place you.”
“I work in a map store at the port and…”
“You’re Herran. Norra was very disappointed you didn’t show up to rescue her from me.” Namen gave Herran a weak smile and then sat up and felt his head and his arms. “I think I’m fit enough. Let’s leave this wagon. I need to walk and breathe in some fresh air. His gaze lingered on Lily as she helped him out.
“Take it easy, mage. There might be some lingering effects from the spell. Let me help you,” Herran said. He thought that the mage might call him out right then, but he didn’t.
Namen waved Herran off and put his arm around Lily. She looked up at him and Herran knew why she was so eager for his welfare. They walked around to the back of the other wagon when two men rode up and raised their hands.
“I’m Oswalt and this is Renager. Kendro sent us here to help and perhaps to buy,” Oswalt smiled. “How does the girl fare?”
“Is the healer there?” Norra said from within the wagon. “My leg is beginning to hurt a lot.”
“Can you bring her out here?” Renager said as he pulled two saddlebags from his saddle and looked at Lily. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What does it look like?” Lily said as she walked up with Namen.
“Well maybe I can look at that, too.”
The healer went to work on the girls’ wounds as Oswalt and Bloggo went through the goods—spreading the wares out and putting them back in order.
~
Namen
Namen asked Herran to walk along the riverbank with him while the healer worked on Lily.
“So you’re a wizard? How come you exude no power?”
“It’s a spell that comes down from Yulga, he was my ancestor, and it doesn’t work on anyone but me. My great-uncle, talentless though he may be, taught it to me and I use it when I travel along the road to the Pass. There are a lot of strange people that travel this road who look for a wizard’s light. Yourself included.”
The mage pursed his lips. He doubted the man’s story. “I’ve been to all the great libraries of the Towers save two or three, as I learned my craft, and no such spells have caught my eye. Where do you rank in the Spectrum of Magery?”
Herran laughed. “I’d seriously doubt I would range in any spectrum. My range of spell knowledge is hardly complete. I have no ill feelings towards you, Namen, and you shouldn’t bear any towards me.” He put out his hand.
Namen looked at it, wondering what kind of fool did this Herran think he was? It took not only a spell, but also a great talent, mage talent, to cloak one’s power, if it was even possible. Herran told him by his actions that the spell existed. But if Herran harbored any ill will, why did he wake him up and remove the sleeping spell? In the end, Namen had nothing to lose and shook his hand.
“Play me false, Herran, and you will feel my wrath.”
Herran’s smile dropped from his face. “Then you truly have nothing to fear, my friend. I think we may work closely together in the future. Just trust me for awhile, will you?”
“Those girls are special. “ Namen looked back at them. “Who else would have a ghost follow them across Polda? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Their entire journey has been amazing. At first I thought them a threat to my work. Yet here I stand at their beck and call. I don’t feel enthralled, yet I am drawn to them as a fly to sugar.”
“And now? They fascinate me too and I will do all I can to bring Norra into Magia for whatever kind of quest she’s on. For that I feel she’ll need the both of us.” Herran brightened his face again. “Norra. What a truly unique young woman.”
“And Lily.” Namen said looking at her watching the healer work on Norra. “I do believe you.” He put his hand out again.
Herran shook it and they both laughed and turned back, walking towards the wagons.
~
Norra
Sweat beaded Lily’s forehead as she breathed heavily and couldn’t help but let out a restrained scream. No
rra wished she could help Lily through the pain, but all she could do was lay back and wait her own turn with the healer.
“There. It always hurts more going back in, but if there’s not too much damage, your shoulder will be a bit sore, but you’ll be able to do most things. I wouldn’t swing a sword if you can help it for a few weeks.” Renager smiled. “I have some powders for the both of you. Take about a thimbleful in a mug of water when you feel you need it for the pain.”
He pulled a jug and a jar out of one of his saddlebags. “This jug is the powdered painkiller. This jar is a healing paste for Norra. Every morning I want you to put this on both sides of the wound. Lightly wrap it with some of that silk you’ve got in your wagon. Oswalt can leave what you need. Make sure the strips are thoroughly washed in clear water between uses. Your wound looks remarkably clean, but you could lose your leg if the wound festers.”
Norra blinked at the words. How could she lose an entire leg? She didn’t realize how serious the sword thrust was, however she tried to put on a brave face. “No leather pants for awhile?” She smiled as she said it.
“You have dresses. Wear them. If you don’t, make some out of your cargo. I doubt if I’ve seen so much silk in my life.” Renager shook his head as he returned his saddlebags to his mount. “Oswalt, I’m through here and heading back, unless you want some help driving the wagon.”
“I can handle it,” Oswalt said, his voice muffled by the canopy and then he stuck his head out of the wagon. “Tell Kendro, eighty-five bolts of good quality silk. Twenty of muslin and a lot of lace. Perhaps one hundred gold pieces for the ladies.”
“They’ll probably need a bolt of silk and one of muslin.” Renager looked at Norra. “Muslin actually makes better bandages,” then to Oswalt, “I’ll let him know. See you in the morning.”