“Taxes. The king has increased taxes four times in the last year alone. Duke Sainer tries to do right by his people and Cord’s father lives in Rivers Corner. The town is still growing and Mr. Smithy considering retiring. The town is far enough out of the way that it shouldn’t be in the path of the war.” Mr. Banner told him. “Now why don’t you tell us what you’re running from?”
Alec looked from one set of eyes to another. These were simple people. Normal, trusting, good-hearted people, even Mr. Banner. Alec realized it wasn’t that he was being cautious of him. It was cautious of anyone who would hurt his family. For a minute he considered lying and saying he was running from a life as a field hand. Looking into Armon’s eyes Alec realized he couldn’t do that to them even if they asked him to leave they deserved the truth.
He started out by telling them about Karen and how she’d raised him. Alec saw the pity in their eyes. He felt his shoulders slump and the words spilled out of his mouth. Alec told them about Greg and Jason then about Jake his only friend. As the sun sank and more wood was put on the fire the boys sat down in front of their fathers. Terry retook her seat with Heather holding the baby.
They shared in his joy of getting the letter from Kings Academy and stared in amazement when Alec revealed that he had magic. Mr. Banner nodded in agreement as he talked about the nobles not wanting him there. He saw the righteous anger in Mr. Banner’s eyes and Armon’s clenched fist as he described his punishment for defending himself. Tears rolled down Mrs. Banner’s and Terry’s cheeks when Alec told of his engagement to Christi.
Looks of astonishment were shared when Alec told them that he was a mage and what it meant. He hesitated a second then told them of his fight with the goddess and saw fear in their eyes. Fear for him and fear of him. He revealed his reasoning that the gods through the temples wanted him dead and of his flight from the home of the Morton’s. Alec recounted his encounter with the god Aaron; he still saw fear in their eyes but also relief. He finished by berating himself for not holding a shield when he was attacked and saw agreement in Mr. Banner.
Alec hung his head looking down at the cup in his hands through tears. He didn’t know when or who had given him the cup. With his heart aching in his chest he stood.
“I understand if you want me to leave. It could be dangerous for anyone to be around me.”
He walked over and sat with his back against the wheel of the hauler staring at his feet between his knees. A part of him felt relief and another was scared. He could make it to the next town, do some menial labor for a while or try to make a life for himself. He’d have to leave though. The nagging sensation in the back of his mind was still telling him to head further north and east.
If they asked him to leave, he would still thank them for their generosity. Then he would leave quietly. Alec knew he would have to soon anyway. A shadow passed between him and the fire and he looked up. Cord looked down at him.
“Would you really leave peacefully if we asked? We’re simple folk, it may be dangerous for us to be around you and we have our families to think of.”
Alec slowly stood. He didn’t want to scare the big smith into thinking he was going to attack him.
“I will. Thank you for helping me get back on my feet. Would you mind if I kept the boots though?” Alec held his hand out for him to shake.
“Come back to the fire there’s no need to leave right this minute.” Cord put his hand on his back to guide him.
It was probably some kind of prearranged signal or something because Alec could practically see the breath of relief leave their camp.
“So you’re a magic user? Is there anything you can do to show us this magic?” Mr. Banner asked.
Alec reached within himself and drew a small portion of his power out. It was still a little wild and he could feel it trying to get away from him. Pushing his will into it, he cast a flame directly above his outstretched hand. The flame lurched around wildly wanting to consume the power that had created it. Cutting the flame off, he picked up his cup with water in it and tossed the water into the air along with his power. The air spread the water out above their heads with the help of his power and then froze the little droplets of water to ice. It looked like it was snowing.
“I can do things with earth and spirit too but it takes a lot out of me since I don’t have affinities for them.” Alec said.
The families watched the snow slowly settle to the ground. Cindy held out a hand watching it melt on her hand.
“I can also heal but right now my power is very wild from being hurt. I really don’t know much considering I haven’t even completed first year sorcery.”
“Alec, we don’t know anything about what the gods want with you. We’re simple people just wanting to live our lives in peace.” Mr. Banner looked for support from the others. “With the turmoil in your life and the gods being an unknown to you, we can’t risk putting our families in harm’s way.” Mr. Banner said.
“I understand, this is my problem not yours. I’ll leave as soon as I can. Thank you for helping me,” Alec told them as he stood back up.
Cord set a hand on his shoulder. “Just hold on there Alec. There’s no reason for you to leave just now. Get a good night’s rest and you can get a fresh start in the morning.”
Cindy brought out a couple blankets to him and Armon showed him how to setup his bed under the wagon hauling their belongings.
As everyone else headed to their beds Alec stayed up gazing into the fire. Mr. Banner had shown him a rudimentary map earlier, it looked like there was a crossroads less than a day ahead and their little caravan would be turning south. Alec could still feel something pulling him. It was still wanting him to go east but also north. Hopefully he could earn a little money in one of the small towns along the way.
Chapter 15
Allen led the two mages along the road. Having lost their ability to track Alec with their magic it had been up to him to track him by normal means. He had no idea who the man was that Alec had met and roomed with. Two days ago the tracks of the other man had just disappeared and Alec appeared to have joined with a set of wagons. They had been trailing the wagons and were still a full day behind them.
Several things puzzled Allen; chief among them was why Alec had not left the wagon for two days. When a set of bare feet and then another set of boots had appeared at the wagons camp Allen had to assume they were Alec’s. Now he needed to make a decision. The new boot prints left the wagons and headed north while the wagons headed south.
“Their paths separate here. The boots we assume are Alec’s go north but I can’t guarantee that it is him,” he told the other two.
“What are you thinking?” Robert asked.
In the last couple days the two mages had come to rely on Allen’s expertise and knowledge of the land. He was a natural born leader and took the time to keep them informed of the choices he made.
“If we follow the wagons and ride hard I’m hoping we can catch them sometime tomorrow and possibly lose the guy on foot. Or we can catch up to the guy by late this evening and if it isn’t Alec then it will take us an extra couple days to catch the wagons.” Allen explained.
“How certain are you that the lone guy is Alec? You had said his boots were marked and these ones aren’t right.” Robert asked.
“Boots fail or are damaged. Whoever is wearing the boots is close to Alec’s size. The boots are too big for him, I can see the shifting in the tracks as his feet slide forward in them. I’m just making an educated guess that Alec wouldn’t have stayed with the wagons long.”
“You still haven’t any idea where he’s going though?” Sherry asked.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking on it and I think I do. I think he’s headed for The Slide.”
The three riders turned north at the crossroads and kicked their horses to a gallop. It didn’t look like their luck would hold much longer the fall rains had been light and had held off till nightfall.
Allen raced down the road with
Robert and Sherry following in a line. They ate a hurried lunch in their saddles and quickly resumed their pace. The rain started in earnest midway through the afternoon and then came down in sheets as evening fell soaking them in seconds.
A smaller town straddled the road and the rain was still coming down hard with occasional cracks of thunder and lightning. Guiding their horses into the courtyard of a small inn they left the horses with a stable boy who was none too happy about having to go out in the rain.
Alec had run. Christi didn’t know who to be more mad at, her Aunt Teresa, Alec, the gods, or even herself. She’d known she should have stayed with him until he woke up but she’d felt like she needed to defend him to her Aunt.
Christi headed back into the sorcery tower. She’d only been back for a couple days. Her parents had let her stay home for a couple extra days. When her brother had come back saying that Allen was going to continue tracking Alec alone they had sent her on to the academy.
Crossing the front sitting room, she made her way up to the fifth floor. Peter sat in his normal chair waiting for her.
“In light of the upcoming war the king has ordered that all magic classes advance their students as quickly as possible. We are to begin teaching offensive spells and have canceled all secondary classes for the time being.” He said.
“What does that mean, advance the classes?” she asked.
“It means I have to teach you the advanced spells that you would not normally learn until your second year. We will push you right up to the point of emptying your well.”
Having an affinity for air and spirit with a minor affinity for fire Christi would be concentrating on making trees move and wind spells. One of the main spells she would have to learn would be to create, direct and control a cyclone. Very few wizards had the ability or the power to move air on such a scale. Christi being a sorceress had affinity, ability and the power to generate a cyclone. Her problem was that she had yet to develop the control to do so without using all of her power and still direct the cyclone where she wanted.
Christi stood in the huge room next to Peter. At various points on the walls, a strange symbol emitted a soft glow.
“I will start. I’ve found that in these cases it is easier for me to show you what I want than to explain it.” Peter told her.
Peter brought up his hand swung his partially open hand in a circle. Dust in the center of the room began moving in a circular direction. Before long dust began lifting off of the floor and spinning upward.
Christi backed up until her back touched the wall behind her. Peter had a full cyclone before her and started to change the shape of his circle motion. Christi noted that with each distinctive hand motion he made the cyclone would move around the room. Peter moved his hand slower and slower till he came to a stop along with the cyclone.
“That’s fun, even if I don’t have an affinity for air!” he smiled at her.
“You did all that without having an affinity for air? How? It takes most of my power to just generate a small cyclone.” Christi asked.
“While it does take a fair amount of power to generate a cyclone it is more about finesse. I use a smaller amount of air and move just that one piece rather than trying to move all of the air.” He said.
The dust was slowly settling in the room. Peter moved over to the doorway and leaned against the frame.
“Try it. Move the cyclone close to the wall on each side without touching the walls themselves.”
Christi gathered her power and extended it out in front of her. Lifting her hand she made to grasp the power and began pulling the pocket of air in a circle. Dust slowly lifted back into the air and Christi had a full cyclone in the middle of the room. Moving her hand slightly further in one direction the cyclone moved as well.
“Peter, how do I stop? Do I just drop it or withdraw my power?” she asked.
“Keep going for now. When you want the cyclone to dissipate, slow the rotation of your power. If you need to stop it quickly, try to hold your power in one place. Never just let go of your power in the middle of a cyclone. If you let go of a cyclone nature or another sorcerer could take it over. Entire armies and cities have been leveled by rouge cyclones.”
Christi slowly decreased the rotation of the cyclone then withdrew her power from it. The dust sparkled in the air reflecting the light coming in through the door as it slowly settled once again.
“Well done! Well done!” Peter clapped his hands.
Christi’s face dripped with sweat. She turned to Peter with a proud smile on her face. It was the first one he’d seen since she’d come back to the academy.
“How much of your power did that use up?”
“Not quite half.” Christi wiped her face with a small towel she had tucked into her waist.
“Good. Now send a small wind back and forth across the floor. Keep it low to the ground though.” He mimicked the motion with his hands.
Christi tried it. Sweeping her hands out she wiped them back and forth. The wind curled under itself trapping the dust under it and carrying it along the floor then out the door. Doing it by hand would have taken at least three hours and probably wouldn’t have done as good of a job.
Peter led Christi back outside explaining that the sweeping motion could be used to take a man’s legs out from under him or even a horse’s legs if she put enough force behind it.
“It’s almost lunch time, let’s grab something and take it back to the tower.” Peter had seen the smile fall from her face as she felt the note in her pocket again.
Beth was off with Mistress Julie and Cathy being a fourth year was basically on her own and only checked with Peter when she had a question. Christi and Peter sat on opposite sides of a low table eating from a tray of food when Cathy came down from the upper floors.
“Food, I knew I smelled something. Is it lunch time already?” Cathy wiped her hands down the sides of her robe.
“Go grab something and bring it back.” Peter pointedly eyed Christi with her head bowed over her food.
“Christi. Christi!”
“Huh? Sorry, I didn’t know you were talking to me.”
“Do you mind if I read the letter?” he asked.
“What letter?”
Peter sighed, “The letter from Alec in your pocket.”
Peter quickly read through it then closed his eyes and cocked his head from side to side in thought.
“I think I understand what he was trying to do. I believe Alec felt unwanted and possibly considered his mere presence to be a danger, to you in particular. He states in the letter his feelings for you. At the same time, he releases you from any obligation to him, for your safety. Surely you don’t think Alec would willingly put anyone else in danger because of him?” Peter asked.
“No. I can see what you’re saying but I don’t think he intends to come back.” Christi said.
“I agree, that’s why we need to find him and convince him to come back. The king is leading the army through the edge of the desert for a preemptive attack. At the same time, Beth is headed to the southern pass to erect wards and complex shields across the pass itself. I would like for her to look for Alec at the same time. In order for her to do that I think she needs to know he’s a Mage.”
“Why would she need to know he’s a Mage? She knows what he looks like.”
“Alec isn’t wrong in thinking that others around him could be in danger, including Beth. Imagine the amount of power that Alec has at his disposal, that power could be used for the defense of Kingston. Don’t get me wrong, I would like to have Alec back here so I can help him.”
There was a knock at the tower’s door and Christi frowned. Beth would just come in, She had a room after all. When Christi opened the door she was surprised to see Master Hawkswing.
“Shit! Master Hawkswing!” Peter stood and extended his hand. “My apologies sir. Please come in, we should have informed you of the situation days ago.”
“Quite alright, what situation are we talk
ing about?” He asked.
Beth had come in behind him and was setting her tray down to eat. Peter led Master Hawkswing over to sit beside her then sat next to Christi. Making sure that Beth was listening Peter began telling them Alec’s story.
Telling of how Alec had come to the academy and then his loss of power Beth and Master Hawkswing nodded along having heard most of it in one form or another. Peter recounted how Alec had regained his power after the wedding of his friend. Beth sat on the couch silently staring at him while Jimmy stood and started pacing as he swore.
Jimmy sat back down heavily, still cursing under his breath. “Damn, there goes his apprenticeship.”
Peter nodded his agreement and noticed the frown of confusion on Christi’s face.
“Bards aren’t allowed to have power. There is a conflict of interest and too much suspicion for a Bard to influence or intimidate leaders.” Peter told them.
“He can still complete journeyman status but will never be allowed to council having magic.” Jimmy said.
Cathy had finally gotten over her shock. “You said Alec never received the power from his aunt, right? How did his power manifest itself?” She sounded like she was almost afraid of the answer.
Jimmy froze at the question. He’d missed that part of the story and felt goosebumps rise on his arms.
“We have reasoned out that Alec is a Mage.” Peter paused to let it soak in. “Alec had to reawaken his power. His well was already rather large for someone relatively untrained; now it is simply huge. The other way we know, is that we were told by a goddess.”
Peter continued the story. Alec’s fight with the goddess and his suspicions of their enmity toward him brought questions and loud voices. Neither of them was willing to condemn Alec but they had both wanted to talk with him. After answering a few of the questions, Peter told them the circumstances that led to him leaving.
As Alec stroll into the town he noted that several of houses and warehouse were obviously abandoned. He still wore the boots that were too big for him. The leaves he had crammed into the toe only stopped his feet from sliding for so long before compacting and left his socks stained green.
Mage (The Elemental Magic Series Book 2) Page 16