“It took some time for us to recover from Xander Necros’ attack.” It was Southernstar that answered. “Even so, Sane was still adamant about finding you. He was sure that you still lived, though his future-sight had not yet advanced enough to prove him right. He wanted to bring those pages to you and Eldar agreed on the condition that I guard them and bring them back once you are done with them.”
“It was fortunate that Southernstar came with me,” continued Sane, “In the weeks since our confrontation with Xander she has been teaching me how to control and focus my visions so that they can more directly serve me and there is no better means of travel than by a dragon’s wing.
“We went to Wolfsbane, thinking you might still be there, but all we found was a skeleton crew of soldiers left behind to clean up after the battle. We followed after the foot army, but my visions kept pointing to water and we took a more northeasterly course hoping to catch up to the naval ships. Just as they came into view I had a vision of Kellen. He was wearing the black armor that I now see him in.”
“You view him as a turncoat,” clarified Southernstar, “causing your mind to create the dark imagery of him.”
Sane agreed and to Byrn said, “For seers, our minds tend to interpret the visions in ways that make sense to us through our own perspectives. There is also a matter of detail related to how far in the future events are supposed to occur and the accuracy of the images. Visions for events that are about to happen tend to be very clear, but those far in the future are more abstract.
“Nevertheless, I saw Kellen taking you, not you as you are, but you in your true body, before Janus. He held you while Janus slashed your throat open.”
“That is not quite what happened, but close enough,” admitted Byrn, “I was foolish enough to reveal my true identity to Kellen and he told Janus, thinking we could ally against Xander. Janus used that trust to try to collar me, but Kellen stopped him at the last moment. However, it was not enough to save me. That was when Janus slashed my throat and threw me overboard.” Byrn again rubbed at his throat where Janus had cut him and marveled at the lack of any type of injury.
“Is this Kellen a friend or foe?” asked Southernstar.
The sorcerers looked at each other, but neither was sure of the answer.
Soon Byrn fell back asleep and had a restful night despite the cold ground he was forced to sleep on. When he was roused the next day, he used the morning’s light to read over the pages that Sane gave him thoroughly. They detailed the aptly named spell, Soul Transference that Xander had used and the magical devices needed consisting of a man sized binding rune to contain the effects of the spell and several “Atmari” crystals that were only found in the deepest of dwarven mines and needed to be properly attuned in order to allow the magical energy to grasp a living soul and extract it from the body. To make matters more difficult once the crystals were used once, they could never be reused. The spell would link the souls of the caster and target for a moment while they are simultaneously ripped from their own bodies and deposited in the other person’s form. This was a spell of such complication that only the most experienced of necromancers should ever attempt it. The results of failure could result in the painful death of the caster as well as the target. The souls could become displaced and unable to attach to any body. They could become permanently combined so that the result is an amalgam of the two original souls. In the best-case failure scenario the souls would simply return to their original bodies. Byrn’s stomach turned as he read and reread the spell. He did not have the experience to cast Soul Transference, but still would have been willing to risk it to get his rightful body back. However, lacking any of the crystals, it would be impossible for him to even attempt the transference. Would his dwarven friends across the sea in Ghant be able to get him some of these crystals? Byrn suspected that they would, but it could take six months to cross the sea and get back. By that time Xander would surely have made his move against the kingdom and solidified his base of power.
To the far west past Lord Nightwind’s domain sat the Mainor Mountains and beneath those ranges lived cities of dwarves. There was surely someone there that could get them the crystals he needed. “Southernstar, how long would it take to get us to the Mainor Mountains?”
The dragon in human form looked at Sane quizzically. After some quick estimating, he said, “You’re asking about the crystals. At Southernstar’s speed I’d wager we could make it there in a little over a week.”
“Our time is short. We are not far out from Mollifas. Janus is likely back there by now and Xander is somewhere preparing to attack the capital. I do not like the idea of leaving those two to fight each other, but we have little choice.” Byrn put on his black traveling cloak and was a bit sad to realize that it and the clothes he wore were the only possessions he had and they were the clothes that Xander happened to be wearing at the time of the soul transfer.
Southernstar left to gather some fruits and berries while Sane cooked up a rabbit he had caught earlier. Southernstar was not adept at hunting in her human form and so decided she could be the most help by gathering food that could not run away from her.
Having nothing else to do while he waited and rested, Byrn continued to read the pages that Sane had ripped from Xander’s grimoire. The section immediately following the spell contained some of the necromancer’s thoughts on immortality and the other schools of magic. As Byrn read he learned that Xander’s was not the only path to immortality. He made reference to a healer that managed to extend his years and youthfulness by constantly regenerating and reinvigorating his body’s tissue. There was an elementalist that slowed his body’s aging by using ice magic to nearly freeze himself. A grand enchantress used her power to literally convince herself that she was young and beautiful and her body actually responded to that in something that Xander referred to as “an extreme case of mind over matter.” There were costs to this kind of magic. The healer could not use his arts to help anyone else. The elementalist aged slowly, but was slow to react to stimuli from the world around him. The enchantress had to sacrifice a beautiful virgin in order for the spell to have any significant meaning and restore her own youth. He then went on to surmise that it was possible for magicians of all disciplines to extend their years, possibly without end, but that much of that lore had been lost over time and the knowledge was owned by only a handful of individuals like himself spread throughout the world. That got Byrn to wondering if there was a way to restore Xander’s body to its youth or at least its middle years to put them back on a more even footing, but he quickly rejected the idea. If there were such a way Xander would have used it himself.
“How many times do you think Xander has switched bodies? How does he continue on with his life?” Byrn asked Sane.
“Who can know?”
“In my case he is assuming my identity, but that is because of my royal status. If he switches into a magically gifted farmer, does he still take that person’s life or start a new one all his own? He could have dozens of families that he has raised as one man and then abandoned when he became another.” Alia popped into his mind at that thought. Did she know what Xander had done? She was Byrn’s love for a time. Perhaps she still was deep down. Xander would surely end any sort of romance that Alia might try to initiate. He hoped that Xander would not make Alia hate him.
“Alia!” Sane shouted, breaking into Byrn’s thoughts. The sorcerer’s good eye was distant as he looked through Byrn. For a moment Sane seemed like he was miles away, but suddenly his head shook and he looked around for someone. When his eye caught sight of Byrn again he said, “Alia and Avelice are in danger. We must hurry if we wish to help them!” Sane began running into the woods near their camp without looking back to see if Byrn followed, but he did. He would not allow Alia or his daughter to come to harm.
Chapter 33
Shouts of defiance echoed through the forest as Byrn followed as closely as he could. Sane was probably twenty years Byrn’s junior now and neither o
f them was a newborn chick. However, both were masters of the physical manipulation magic and strengthened their own brittle bones and weary bodies as they ran towards the sounds of fighting. It was Alia’s voice that carried to them. She was never one to play the damsel in distress even when it seemed the whole world was against her.
Southernstar joined them in their pursuit and still wore her human form to navigate through the dense foliage. Sane never called to her, but she showed up after only a minute and the sorcerer did not look at all surprised to see her rushing to his side. She quickly came to match the pace that Sane set effortlessly and Byrn guessed that she would be able to leave them all in a trail of dust if she had a mind to.
A single clang of steel on steel followed by a boy’s sharp cry came to Byrn on the wind and he quickened his pace if that was even possible. He had hoped that the boy would find his way clear of the Collective, but it seemed that Kaleb was not so lucky.
Byrn tossed a ball of fire at someone’s back when the attackers first came into view, pausing only for a second to confirm that the man he was targeting was not Alia or Kaleb. His aim at a run was a little off, but he succeeded in drawing the group’s attention away from Alia and Kaleb. The boy was lying on the ground and Alia knelt over him with a shield of protection cast in front of them. When the man who was almost hit by Byrn’s fireball turned he saw that it was Ryonus. Two magicians fled immediately and were followed by Ryonus and two others a moment later. A baby crying came from one of the magicians in the lead. “Stay with them!” Byrn shouted to the others and went in pursuit of the kidnappers alone.
Murderous rage filled him for an instant and he lashed out at Ryonus with a wave of flame that cascaded over the other man’s shield, but did no harm. Ryonus braced himself and let loose a weak lightning strike that did little more than force Byrn off course and put him in line with another magician that Byrn was less familiar with, but he recognized him as one of the Collective’s masters. The second held a grimoire out toward Byrn like a weapon and shouted, “Darkness!” At his command the world went black before Byrn’s eyes and he knew the man to be an enchanter. He abruptly stopped in his pursuit and created a Moran’s Circle of wind magic to flow around him in protection. It would take him a minute to forcibly end the blindness spell and the Circle would protect him from further attacks during that time.
A sudden scream of pain was cut short and subsequently followed by another brief clash of steel. “Quickly, you must save the baby.” The voice belonged to Tomlin.
“Stop! You idiot!” demanded Ryonus. His command was followed by another clash of weapons and a dull thud. Then he said, “Your loyalty is misplaced. Xander only wants to help Alia whether she realizes it or not.”
Byrn’s vision cleared in time to see Ryonus standing over Tomlin with the steel tip of his staff hovered just above the young man’s chest. “So what are you going to do: kill me or stop your friend from taking back Avelice?” Tomlin asked, sounding smug for someone at the wrong end of a spear point.
Ryonus looked ahead to one of the magicians that had been allied with him who now seemed to be in hot pursuit of the two escaping with Avelice, then back to Tomlin. Ryonus grudgingly left Tomlin and ran after the other magician.
The Moran’s Circle shifted into a wall of wind that Byrn through into Ryonus’ back and tossed him to the ground where he smacked his head and did not get back up. It quickly became apparent what had just happened. He did not know where Tomlin came from, but he killed the other enchanter before anyone knew he was there with a knife in the back. Then he muddled the third magician’s mind and sent him off to rescue Avelice. After a brief clash with Ryonus, Tomlin was bested, but the manipulationist had to leave before finishing him so that he could stop the confused magician that Tomlin had “recruited.” The entire exchange took place in less than the half minute it took Byrn to dispel the darkness cast over him.
There was no time for greeting as Byrn and Tomlin went off in pursuit of Avelice’s kidnappers who had a considerable lead and were already out of sight. Byrn stretched his senses to their limit to find the resonance of the kidnappers’ body heat and found them just at the edge of his outermost limits. One of them was moving away very quickly while another was engaged in a contest with the magician under Tomlin’s spell. They made it over the next hill just in time to see one of the men kill the other with a tunnel of flame that burrowed into his opponent with all of the force of a battering ram. “That is Michal Firemas, formerly of Baj,” Tomlin told him without being asked. “He is not to be taken lightly.”
“Will he listen to me?” Byrn asked.
“If you mean would he listen to Xander, then yes, but there are a handful of magicians that know about your body swap and he is one of them. I’d expect that he would be itching for a fight with the magician believed to be the most powerful fire user in the kingdom.”
“Then go and rescue Avelice. I’ll handle this one.”
Tomlin nodded and started to run, but stopped for a moment. He turned and said, “Riona is taking Avelice to Xander, though I am not sure what he wants with her. He plans to take the royal castle this morning and force the assembled noble representatives there to acknowledge him as king. If I can get Avelice back before Riona reaches Xander, then I will double back. Otherwise I will continue to follow her into the lion’s den and take Avelice when the opportunity presents itself.”
“Go,” Byrn told him with a nod and Tomlin did as he was told. Byrn wanted to thank Tomlin for his aid, but they did not have the time. Michal was already closing in.
Michal greeted Byrn with an opening cascade of fireballs. All of the running and short confrontation with Ryonus had taken its toll on Byrn, but he managed to cast a shield and deflect the attack with little effort. Let this man think that Byrn needed to fear fire magic. He answered with a single larger fireball that would have burned the flesh from Michal’s bones, but the other fire wielder was able to take control of the flame and turned it against Byrn. He had expected Michal to stop the attack or else he would not have used such a powerful spell against a single opponent, but Byrn wanted to know just how his opponent would stop it. There were any number of things that Michal could have done and every counter would have revealed something about his strengths and weaknesses. A magical barrier or a speedy dash out of the way would have revealed that the man had some skill with physical manipulation. Countering the fire with water would have shown that he was proficient in the other elements. Instead Michal chose to reveal little about himself by relying on his fire magic to reverse Byrn’s spell. However, he did reveal something…
The fireball crashed into Byrn and drove him to his knees through the force of the impact. The fire spread over his clothes and across the ground around him, catching in the trees and the underbrush. He coughed on the smoke that filled his lungs and even though he did not look up he was aware of the other fire magician’s approach.
The impact of another fire blast kept Byrn from getting to his feet and seeing victory at hand, Michal cut the distance between them fearlessly. He sauntered to within an arm’s length of Byrn, stopping so that Byrn’s eyes rested on his feet. “That old body must be wearing thin. The magicians of your inner circle spoke about you with such admiration. I had hoped for a more exciting battle.”
“You are not the only one disappointed,” Byrn exhaled the words and dug his fingers into the dirt. The earth trembled briefly before a volcano of dirt erupted from underneath Michal, causing his feet to stammer. He tried to shout his surprise, but dirt filled his mouth as it changed direction and what had been flying outward was now streaming back to cover the fire magician. Byrn leapt to his feet and ripped Michal’s grimoire from his hand in one fluid motion before flinging it some distance away. Soil caked Michal and bent him low as more of the black earth pinned him into a position that was halfway between crouching and standing before the mounds ceased their attack. Michal’s face and head were left uncovered and the man spit out as much of the dirt that
he could. “As a true master of fire, you should know that flame attacks would have little effect on me. In fact, they are completely ineffective. I could have stood through your assaults, but allowing you to draw in close so that I could easily disarm you seemed like a better alternative.” Byrn traced the Kenzai rune into the dirt with his finger, imbuing it with magic to strengthen it causing it to glow brightly as it quickly ate away at Michal’s magic. “And that should keep you out of my way for a while.” Byrn stepped back a few feet so that the rune would not drain him as well.
He felt the ebb and flow of body heat in search of Avelice or Tomlin. Tomlin was at the very edge of his senses and true to his word was headed in the general direction of Mollifas. Avelice and her captor were beyond his limits. Behind him were four heat signatures. Three burned brightly while the fourth was vital, but dimmer indicating an older person; Sane. Byrn turned his attention back to Michal. “Why does Xander want my daughter?”
“Don’t know. Don’t really care,” answered the dirty man. It was clear he would be giving no more information than that without some coercion.
“Alia is on her way,” said Byrn callously, “and I have to imagine that she is mightily pissed right about now what with her daughter being kidnapped. Have you ever seen her in a bad mood?”
“I am not scared of her,” Michal said with defiance. The spark in his eye showed that he meant it too.
“Fear her or not, it will make no difference when she forcibly tears apart your mind to get at whatever secrets you might be holding. It also will matter little in protecting you when she decides to bury the blade of her staff into your skull.” Michal had no response to that except for the sudden draining of color from his face as Alia came over the hill behind them. She had been running, but upon seeing Byrn and his captive she slowed her pace to a fast, purposeful walk.
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