by Guy Antibes
“Yes. That is a good thing, as long as we can survive on our own. We have, except for the slavers and they won’t be back,” Gristan said. “He’s definitely worth a whole escort of guards.”
“He is.” Lily folded her arms. Norra noted that the pose indicated that the subject needed to be changed.
“Cloud also told me that we can take our horses with us over the pass, but confirmed that at the very top we’ll have to walk.”
Lily brightened. “Then we’ll have to train for it and walk a bit each day.”
“Do you think Namen and Bloggo will join us?”
“If they want to join us over the pass into Magia, they will. I’ll make them,” Lily said, nodding her head with a jerk.
“Then we might as well get started. Gristan, I wish you could drive the wagon. You won’t have to walk.” Norra smiled and motioned for the horse to go faster so they could catch up to Namen.
~
All of them walked to get into condition, with Norra leading the wagon horse by the bit, when they came in sight of the first mounds. The main road continued on towards the south and their road turned into a dusty track leading west.
They stopped for a midday meal at a tiny oasis and Norra pulled out the map Herran left them. “The mounds lead to the pass. We can climb this one and make sure there are others towards the mountain.”
“I’ll come with you,” Namen said.
Norra nodded her assent, but this would be the first time she had ever been alone with the mage. A sliver of trepidation clutched her heart, but more trials would lie ahead and she needed to get over her basic fear of the man and this was one way to do it.
Lily walked back with her and started untying her horse.
“Make sure she’s hobbled and you might as well let the others graze while we’re gone.”
“You don’t want me to go along?” Lily looked a little hurt.
“We need someone here besides Bloggo to protect our possessions. Gristan can only do so much and I fear that Blog would be more comfortable with a living breathing person around.”
“I resent the implications of that,” the ghost said as he appeared sitting on the rear gate of the wagon. “But I can come along, can I not?”
“No. I think I need some time alone with Namen.” She looked at Lily. “And no, I’m not interested in him.” Norra smiled and then turned serious.
~
They tied their horses to a bush with grass growing around it so the horses could eat something while they climbed the hill. They hadn’t said much on their way. There were no foothills, just the mounds. It was perhaps two hundred paces high and the walk certainly tested Norra’s leg.
“There they are all in a row,” Norra said as they reached the top. In the distance they saw another mound and the top of another and another. The road west ran along the line. “Just like on Yulga’s map.” She looked at Namen.
“Yes?”
“You volunteered to come along. I suppose there is something you want to tell me?”
He took Norra in his arms and kissed her before she had a chance to struggle against him. She pushed him off.
“That was uncalled for and certainly not a feeling I can return,” Norra said. What a stupid thing to do. If Herran would have tried that, she wouldn’t know what to do, but certainly she wouldn’t feel so disconnected and upset at him.
“Perhaps as you get to know me.”
“But you and Lily.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “My heart is a big one, Norra. I can certainly entertain both you and your friend.”
“Is that how you look at her? As my friend?” The anger began to rise within her as she rose to Lily’s defense. Norra struggled to manage her temper and to act cool towards Namen. Her impression of men at her father’s estate was that if a maid showed anger, it just got them more interested. Perhaps men wanted a competition and Norra did not want to compete.
“No. I do like Lily and I do like you.”
She took a deep breath. “I can barely tolerate you, Namen. You scare me. Your following us has made me lose a lot of sleep and you think you can join our company after all of the men you’ve killed and think that Lily and I will fall in love with you?”
“Lily has mentioned the word love before.” He backed off and put his hands on his hips.
“Have you made a similar remark?”
He tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders. “I might have.” He looked at Norra and then said, “I did.” His countenance changed and he sat on the ground. “I did and now I don’t know what I feel. I’m not a man who has spent much time with women.”
“You’re sorry with how you acted just now?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.” He looked up at her. “I am sorry I upset you. I thought that if Lily liked me, that you would.”
Norra laughed. “That’s something a schoolboy might say.”
“Have you known many schoolboys?”
She sat down next to him. “A few.” She patted his hand. “I’m sure you’re sorry and, you know, I was angry but now I’m not. I’ll admit, both of us haven’t spent much time around those of the opposite sex, but I’m sure we will both learn from this experience. Who do you like better between us?” Norra didn’t know if she made a mistake with that question.
“Why Lily, of course. “ He paused. “Ah, I see. I believe that perhaps I acted in a moronic fashion. You won’t tell Lily? I thought when you wouldn’t let any of the others come with you...” Namen said.
“I just wanted to talk to you. Why don’t we let this be our secret and as I said, let us both make the experience something that will improve our behavior. Did you really mean you had a big heart?”
It was the first time she saw Namen look embarrassed. “No, not really. I, I don’t know what I was thinking. Having all of this power can distort your mind a bit. I thought that an easy conquest of Lily might be duplicated, but now I understand that perhaps the conquest was Lily’s and not mine.”
“Perhaps a little bit of both.” Norra felt exhilarated with the revelation that Namen was a human being after all and it made her like him much more. But to befriend him would be a mistake. She’d seen squabbles among the people on her father’s estate enough to know how easily things could be misinterpreted. Could that really be the reason Herran left? If so, who would be misinterpreting whom?
“To change the subject and ease our mutual awkwardness, it appears we are on the right trail and it appears that Cloud is right,” Norra said.
Namen looked towards the even darker blue on the horizon. “That jagged smudge is our next destination. You know he is a mage. His body is somewhere and perhaps the spell is too taxing to use again. Some can only be used once, for the mage might not survive another such drain on his strength.”
“I can believe that. Some spells seem to be easily performed and others seem to take every ounce of energy.”
Namen nodded. “It is one of the mysteries. And what drains one wizard might not drain another. “
“The sooner I can find a way to get rid of this power, the better.” Norra still stood, eyes fixed on the western horizon.
“You don’t really mean that do you? I know you complain about it all of the time, but power is what flows through every living thing with talent. And it is what gets me up in the morning.”
“Yet,” Norra said, “even you have fought against other wizards to keep the destruction down. Is that to merely practice your power?”
He picked up a handful of the loose dirt and tossed it into the wind. “It was at first. I needed to get out of Magia when I found my chances of becoming one of the Nine were slim. I occasionally became overcome by the glory of what my hands and brain could produce as I wandered in Polda. But then I realized the needless destruction by the wizards had to be stopped. I even entertained visions of ruling Polda from my own tower. I would be the Tenth mage. Blog laughed at my foolishness. When I picked up your trail, I found myself wearied by it all,
and much intrigued by your strange light. Now I perceive my talent as a tool—one that I wield with exceptional expertise, but a tool nevertheless. You all have given me added purpose. Lily most of all.”
“And I don’t want to wield that power at all. I can defend myself with a sword and I forget the spells I’m taught, anyway. I consider that a message to myself that I shouldn’t be a mage. But I do have to make sure about something. Do you trust me?”
Namen’s eyes widened and he stroked his beard. “I must admit I’ve never thought about you in the context of trust. I suppose that I trust you. Yes, I trust you very much, now that I think about it. Why?”
“Because I trust you, Namen. I need a mage to shed this power that I bear. The old mage told me that I needed a mage that I trust. I had originally thought that Fenning would fit the bill, but now I don’t think he would have had the level of power that is needed. I think you do. Will you come with me all the way to the end of my journey?”
Namen looked into her eyes and plucked up her hand and kissed it. This time she didn’t withdraw. “I will. I envy you your strength, Norra of Bordon Forest. That is what I really see in you. It’s not love or,” he smiled, “the infatuation of a schoolboy, but respect and as you just pointed out, trust. We can be friends.”
Norra hadn’t expected this kind of a conversation when she trudged up the hill. “We can have mutual respect. However, Lily still loves you and that is something different from respect. The less you tell her about your respect for me, the better. Do you understand?”
Namen lifted up his chin and scanned the sky. “I think I do. Thank you for the life lesson, Norra. It is time we returned or my Lily will wonder.” He grinned and Norra felt comfortable giving him a crooked grin in return. “I also perceive you intended this conversation to get a commitment out of me to escort you to Mage’s tower. As long as Lily is your companion, I will be yours as well.”
“What about your brother?”
Namen smiled. “There is another I love. Bloggo keeps me from damaging myself and has as long as I have known him as my brother. Although he dreads returning to Magia, he has told me that he will come.”
~
The village didn’t match the grandeur of Delia’s. The streets were little more than dried mud mixed with garbage. Wooden buildings lined the main road mixed with leather tents. One tavern graced the town. Norra kept her silk scarf tight around her face, as did the others except for Gristan, who merely kept his presence unknown.
“Do you have any rooms with beds?” Norra asked the native tavern owner.
“I have tents in the back with sleeping pallets. No baths, but you can buy a large tub of water to rinse yourself.”
“Very well. I also have goods to sell. We are going into the mountains. I understand there is a trail that leads up and over into Magia.”
“You understand correctly. Hunters take it to hunt mountain goats.” He squinted at her. “Is that where you intend to go, perhaps to Magia? A fool’s journey.”
“Then call me a fool. We have a mage in our company.” She looked outside and saw Lily talking to Namen. His relationship with ‘her friend’ had become closer in the last few days since their talk on the mound. “He can help us. But perhaps we can purchase some tools to clear the way, a couple of shovels and a pick.”
The native smiled. “You can indeed. The next wooden building west of the tavern is the place. He will buy what you don’t take.” The tavern owner craned his neck at the wagon. “Does that include the wagon?”
“It does and a few bolts of muslin and one of silk.”
That lit up the man’s eyes.
The tent was little better than sleeping in the wagon. The pallet consisted of a wooden frame with a rope platform, pulled taut, but Norra could stretch out all the way. In the middle of the night, Lily woke her up.
“It’s Blog’s turn at watch, but if you’re not too sleepy, you might want to let him get some rest. All of the walking seems to have done him in.”
“I agree. He’s not our servant, after all.” Norra left nothing in the tent.
She took her place in the wagon and said goodnight to Bloggo. The flaps were tied back on both ends and a lantern lit the space. None of them wished their goods stolen.
“Hello, Norra,” Gristan said. “I hope you don’t mind if I keep you company.”
She smiled, happy that he showed up. “No, not at all.”
“Tomorrow we head for the mountains and into Magia,” Gristan said. He idly put his hand through the tiny flame in the lantern.
“I know what you mean. The last leg. I never thought Taxia would be so difficult or take so long to get through. I feel ten years older.” She took her doll out of the pack she carried. “I don’t know what I’ll do if this doesn’t help me get rid of the Mage’s power.”
“You are older, Norra. Part of your experience in this quest has molded you into quite a formidable young woman. Unfortunately, there are other parts of this journey that consist of images and experiences that will trouble you the rest of your life.”
She played with the doll’s dress. “I know. It’s not over and I don’t know what’s yet to come.”
“Good and bad.” Gristan raised his eyebrows and put his finger to his lips. “Listen.”
Howls punctuated the silence of the night. Torches came from around both sides of the tavern and were thrown at the tents. Norra shoved the doll back into her bag and made sure a bag of gold was there too. Lily ran to the wagon carrying her clothes and weapons, followed by Namen.
“Where’s Bloggo?” he asked. They didn’t have time to hitch up the wagon, but Norra put saddles on the horses as Namen and Lily began to fight the villagers.
They grabbed what food they could push into their saddlebags while they fought clubs and farm implements. Only one or two had swords and those found early on that their lack of skills cost them their lives.
“Bloggo!” Namen shouted as he could see flames licking up on all sides of the tents. He cast a spell and the fire died, but Bloggo’s form lay within, blackened by the fire and still.
“We must go,” Lily said, putting her hand on his arm for a moment and following his locked gaze on the tent, “or we’ll all die. The entire village is after us.” They mounted up and urged their horses west.
Namen looked back as the native pursuit dwindled behind them. Norra had never seen so much anguish in his face. “I need your help,” he said as he grasped her hand and took a deep breath. He thrust out his free hand, throwing out a huge blue fireball into the center of town. Norra felt the spell exhaust her own strength. They both struggled up the trail at the end of the track and followed it up. Norra looked back to see the village engulfed in flames.
~
“I let him take my place.” Norra cried at the loss of Namen’s servant. “I took over his watch. If I didn’t, he’d be here now.” She couldn’t forgive herself for letting him sleep.
Namen said nothing. He glowered and hid his head between his legs while they rested. The party had dwindled back down to three, just as it had been when Fenning took them from Barleywood. Two girls and a wizard, plus a ghost. Were they totally unprepared for what lay ahead then and now? Two experienced women. Norra surprised herself at thinking of herself that way. The wizard gone, replaced by a mage. These three were significantly more powerful than the old three and yet, Norra felt that for all of the improved capability, they were still unprepared for what lay ahead.
She didn’t feel the loss for Bloggo that she had for Fenning. However he still had become a good friend and Namen’s brother had helped them get closer to their goal. “He certainly deserved more than a pyre in that village.” Norra looked down at the column of smoke still rising from the village.
“We must examine our provisions and see what we took,” Namen said. He rose from where he sat and went to his horse with Lily and Norra following. Soon their supplies lay arrayed in front of them. “Thank you for lending me your power. They all deserved it,�
� Namen said.
“It was the least I could do. At least I had a hand in avenging Bloggo’s death.” Norra went to her horse and took the two empty waterskins she had salvaged from the wagon. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but at least there is water up here.” She nodded over to a stream that ran down on the other side of the trail. “If there is a bit of game, we can survive.” Norra walked over to the stream and filled them with water.
“When I was a boy, Bloggo and I would hunt. My father was a wizard but his talent was barely enough to allow him to work on his own farm. We grew up together. Blog was always older, but when I showed the talent and he didn’t, it seemed that I always assumed the lead. We’ve been together for our entire lives.”
Lily walked up to him and hugged the mage. His eyes showed surprise but he hugged her back.
“We need to get going, everyone. I do not know if they will be following us or not, but we have to assume they will,” Gristan said. “Although I doubt if I have anything to fear.”
No one reacted to his comment and he shrugged. Everyone moved more slowly than usual, but eventually they got underway.
“One moment,” Namen said. “I’m placing a barrier across the trail. Any good wizard will be able to move it, but I can see that those savages don’t have one with the ability.”
A shimmer distorted the trail on the other side as they turned around a corner and left the land of Taxia behind.
~~~~
Chapter Sixteen
Yulga’s Pass
~
The trail became steeper, the higher they traveled. Norra now wished that she had asked Cloud how long it would take for them to make it over the pass. They stopped at various flat places along the way to sleep. The path had never been wide enough for wagons at any time. The rock sides showed them that.
Three times they had to clear debris from the path. Namen taught Norra various spells to clear the path and cut a new path into the rock. The effort drained her physical resources and he had to re-teach the spells every time she used them, but that preserved Namen’s strength. She remembered that she would have brought shovels and picks and realized that even as tired as she was, a day using tools would put blisters on her hands and make her just as tired.