Gryphon (Rise of the Mages Book 2)

by Brian W. Foster

  Defiance gone, Pate stooped behind the parapet in a fruitless attempt to hide.

  The captain’s lips moved, and Xan enhanced the sound.

  “We surrender, my lord wizard.”

  Pate stuck his head up and gave a nod before ducking back down.

  “Good citizens of Calkirk,” Xan boomed, “your leaders have surrendered.”

  Next would come the hardest part. Not getting the supplies and wagons, as there’d be no resistance to him taking what he wanted. Punishing Pate and the captain, however …

  Xan wasn’t sure he was prepared to dish out what was required, but he had to, starting with having them face their citizens.

  “Assemble in the town square immediately,” he boomed. “Weapons and violence will be dealt with severely. Lack of attendance will be dealt with severely.”

  He kinetically lifted Pate, who flapped his arms like a bird as if that would help keep him in the sky, and lowered him to the square. The captain followed as soon as the mayor’s feet hit the ground.

  Xan scanned the buildings for life. Three held people, two stretched out on beds in different homes. Assuming those were too infirm, he decided not to press the issue. The last, a large, painted house in an area obviously reserved for merchants, contained a group of ten, ranging in size from adults to children to an infant.

  “Those in the house with the yellow and pink roses, come out, or I will kill all ten of you,” he boomed.

  He didn’t realize his mistake until the words had left his mouth. If the family didn’t come out, failing to carry out his threat would make him look impotent, but he didn’t want to kill kids, especially babies.

  Idiot!

  Xan ran his hand through his hair as he waited. Thankfully, a minute later, the home’s door opened, and the family hustled out. When they reached the town square, they filed into a wood structure separated from the rest of the citizens by fencing.

  Bleachers.

  A roof provided shade, and all those who entered were well-heeled.

  The merchant class.

  He probably should have burned that instead of the arch.

  Xan descended smoothly to a dozen feet above the square. “The world is changing. Magic is alive again. War is coming.” He paused to let the townspeople digest his words. “Many will be displaced from their homes. From their livelihoods. From their families and friends. From all they’ve ever known. When you meet these people, you have a choice. The moral decision is to help them to the best of your ability. An acceptable but less moral decision is to ignore their pleas.”

  He paused again. “The third choice, the non-acceptable decision, is to manipulate them. Abuse them. Steal from them. That is what you chose, and you shall be punished.”

  Most faces appeared stricken, disbelieving. A little boy started crying. His mother clutched him, like Xan would burn him for daring to make noise. One middle-aged man fainted.

  “My inclination is to lay waste to Calkirk so you may suffer as those you abused and stole from have suffered.” Xan let out a long breath. “But maybe there are good people among you. I have to hope there are good people among you.”

  He needed a punishment that would leave a lasting impression, that would heal some of the harm the townspeople caused, but that wouldn’t leave them at the mercy of any marauders who happened by.

  “Most of you, I will allow to live, but you are not free of consequences. All that you stole plus twenty percent of the town’s goods will be returned to your victims.”

  The rich merchants looked none too pleased and were most likely already figuring out how to hide their personal fortunes.

  “Do not test me on this!” Xan ignited the front railing of the bleachers, sending a wave of heat washing over the people seated within. After a few seconds, he extinguished it. “You do not want to make me angry.”

  An older man, better dressed than most and seated dead center front nodded. “It will be done correctly, my lord wizard.”

  “The second part of the punishment is that you will elect new leadership,” Xan said. “Choose wisely. If I have to come back, things will not go well for you.”

  Pate and the captain had probably stolen from hundreds of people, leaving them to starve with no food, shelter, or resources of any kind. Refugees likely died because of the thievery. Justice demanded a price be paid, one far over the twenty percent penalty he’d levied against the merchants.

  By rights, Pate and the captain should be hanged.

  Xan couldn’t meet either in the eyes. He’d killed before. Enemies, though. People he’d battled, who would gladly kill him or die for their cause. Taking the lives of two men who were no threat to him was a different thing.

  Of course, he could order the townspeople to do it. There were surely those among them who would be glad to do it. But hiding behind his power, taking no responsibility for his decisions, would make him no better than the nobles he railed against.

  The wagons that had been stolen waited at the back of the square. They were still loaded with supplies, including several coils of rope. Xan propelled two to himself and gave one to Pate and the other to the captain.

  “Tie those into nooses.” Xan’s mouth went dry.

  Pate looked around as if searching for any way out of his predicament.

  The captain, though, saluted Xan. “For once in your miserable life, Pate, do something for others. Take responsibility for your actions.”

  Tears ran down Pate’s cheeks as he fumbled through fashioning a crude hoop with the rope.

  “Place them around your necks.”

  Xan’s heart raced as he forced himself to watch them follow his command. There was still time to back out. Tell them he’d demonstrated the penalty he’d give them if he ever caught them doing evil again.

  But they deserved death for their actions. If Xan were to be a leader of a new nation, he had to administer justice fairly.

  He closed his eyes.

  Both for their sakes and his, he wanted no more delay. He tugged the opposite ends of both ropes upwards kinetically, snapping each man’s neck.

  29.

  Xan released the magic.

  The ropes fell, and both bodies dropped to the ground.

  Thud! Thud!

  Awful, horrible, gut-wrenching sounds he’d never forget. Bile rose in his throat.

  Unable to turn away, he stared at the dead men—dead because of him. But he would not throw up. Could not throw up.

  A leader couldn’t afford to be seen as weak. Regardless of how he felt, he had to show strength, but he also couldn’t dismiss the feeling. Leadership wasn’t just about telling people what to do. It was also about accepting the consequences of every decision.

  Memory of those sounds would remind him of his responsibilities.

  Staring at the bodies wasn’t accomplishing anything tangible, though. There was still daylight to burn and much to do. If he was to build a city at Eye Lake, that city needed farmers and tanners and woodsman—the kinds of people Calkirk had turned away.

  And of course, he needed mages. Which meant days of testing. Which meant staying in the same area after he’d used magic.

  His enemies knew his location, and he was giving them time to catch up. Safer would be to move on and test somewhere he hadn’t used magic. But he wasn’t likely to find hundreds of refugees who were probably so close to starvation they’d join him despite what he was.

  Of course, he could try testing as they traveled, but his burgeoning nation required gold, too. Acquiring it meant separating from the group, and he’d feel a lot better if he found a mage or two to send with them for protection.

  No, his best choice was to check the refugees quickly.

  His course of action determined, he ordered the man who’d spoken for the merchants to deliver the wagons, laden with supplies, back to the group.

  “Also, I’ll be sending refugees here. Some will continue on with me, and those must be fed for a few days until I’m ready to leave. The one
s that stay will need to be cared for.”

  The older man nodded.

  Good. With any luck, there’d be no more trouble from the city, so Xan turned his attention to figuring out how to deal with the people in the camps. If he marched into one proclaiming to be a wizard, he’d cause a panic, and they’d really go berserk when he told them he wanted to test if any could become mages.

  He needed a plausible ruse to calm their fears. Hmm.

  After an instant’s thought, a solution came to him, and he flew back to his camp for apothecary supplies before heading to the largest grouping of refugees. He landed a hundred yards from the camp and walked to the edge of it.

  Lean-tos built from deadwood and straw dotted a large clearing near a stream. People milled about, listless, and everyone was too thin. Children played, but they were subdued, their games producing little laughter and no squeals.

  They’d never make it through the winter without help.

  A man sat on a log and stared into the woods. If he were supposed to be a sentry, he wasn’t doing a great job. He only looked up briefly before returning to his stare to the trees.

  Xan explained he was an apothecary sent by the local lord to check the health of the camp’s occupants.

  “You’re too young,” the man said.

  Xan was getting blasted tired of being told that. “My orders are to check everyone here and provide medicine where needed.”

  “Unless you have food, leave us alone.”

  “If I have to force you to obey me,” Xan said, “I will.”

  The guy looked him up and down. “You and what army?”

  “You’d be surprised.”

  “I’ve got a better idea. What if I take your supplies and bury you in the woods?”

  Xan barked out a laugh. “Let’s just say I wouldn’t advise you to try it.”

  An old woman with an emaciated body hobbled over, using an old stick as a cane. “Let him be, Thawn.”

  “What if he’s lying?”

  “So what if he is?”

  “The lord I told you about executed the thieves who ran Calkirk,” Xan said. “After I do what I came here for, you’ll be provided with food.”

  That announcement settled matters. Thawn was volunteered to be first by virtue of the woman leaving to summon the rest of the group.

  The magnitude of Xan’s task struck him. Over three hundred people occupied the site. Checking so many would take days, and how the blast was he going to explain why he wanted them to think about weight and kinetics and life and everything else? They were starving and destitute, not stupid.

  He touched Thawn’s hand and probed him. Other than a serious lack of nutrition and sores on his feet, he was pretty healthy.

  There had to be a way to check if he were a potential mage without his knowledge.

  Xan’s normal test worked by the subject establishing a mental connection to an energy type and determining if the magic resonated with the connection. The resonance itself wasn’t discernable. If there were another way to establish a connection, the test would be undetectable.

  Hmm.

  What if he shot a tiny flow of each type into the subject? That answer felt right, and he’d learned that, with magic, doing what came instinctually was usually correct.

  He ran through all ten types but found nothing, which was the exact result he had expected given the low probability of Thawn being a mage. The question was, though, whether the negative was because of a lack of potential or because the test didn’t work.

  In fact, even if Xan tested everyone and came up empty, he’d still not know if his methodology was flawed, as there was no guarantee that such a large group would contain a mage.

  Ugh!

  So much time wasted if he were wrong. Time he couldn’t afford to waste. But Thawn had taken less than a minute, a huge advantage if the test worked.

  Xan chewed the inside of his cheek. His choices were limited. Either continue testing everyone with his normal slow method or use the new faster way which risked failure or go back to the group to see if the new test worked with Marco.

  Safety versus risk versus time. None were perfect, but he decided to go with the new method. If no one tested positive, he’d confirm that it did or didn’t work with Marco that evening.

  “Other than malnourishment and sores on your feet,” Xan said, “you’re in good health.”

  Thawn eyed him skeptically. “Sores? But I didn’t even take off my shoes!”

  “Wash your feet every day,” Xan said. “Warm water if you can, but the important point is to dry them thoroughly.”

  “All you did was touch my hand!” Thawn said.

  “Do they hurt?” Xan said.

  “Uh … Some. I guess.”

  “That pain will get worse unless you do as I told you,” Xan said. “Now, gather your belongings and wait for me outside Calkirk’s gate.”

  Thawn hobbled off.

  A line had formed, and Xan motioned for the next patient. Person after person stepped up, and he spent a couple of minutes with each one. He discovered a few patients with illnesses and others with old injuries that hadn’t healed well, and he did what he could, both with magic and with his apothecary supplies. Good, nice, decent people, he felt glad to help.

  But not a one could become a mage, and the line dwindled, rapidly. By the time he had only a couple dozen people left, he was pretty sure the method didn’t work.

  A brunette about his age stepped up. Very thin with a pretty but dirty face. She wouldn’t meet his eyes and mumbled a response to his greeting.

  “What’s your name?” He mustered as much enthusiasm as he could after his long day.

  “Jo Nodge.”

  Well, he’d extracted two words from her at least.

  A scan of her lifeforce showed her to be quite healthy, though as undernourished as everyone else, and he quickly ran through the energy types as he had been doing for nearly ten hours. Life, no. Mass, no. Alchemical, no. Kinetic, yes. Light—

  Wait.

  He’d gotten so used to failed tests that he’d missed a positive one. A second check revealed he hadn’t imagined it.

  His method worked. He’d found a new mage.

  “Jo, I need you to stay behind for a little while.”

  She looked back at the others in line and wrung her hands when no one objected.

  Great. He’d given no thought to what to do once he found a potential mage, and the fact that the first was an attractive girl about his age didn’t help matters. She was obviously already uncomfortable and would get more so when she was alone with him.

  Not much he could do about it, though.

  Xan plastered what he hoped was a soothing smile on his face. “I promise it’s nothing bad.”

  Jo nodded reluctantly, and he finished with the rest of the people, leaving only her behind. She glanced toward the woods as if weighing whether she should try to run.

  “Where’s your family?” he said.

  She stared at the ground. “I don’t have one.”

  Not uncommon in a refugee situation. People got separated. Or maybe bandits attacked them. He empathized with her, but maybe her situation made things easier for him.

  “It so happens that I have a … position … available,” he said. “If you’re interested, I can pay you and offer you a much better life than you have now.”

  Oops. That proposition had coming out sounding a lot less innocent than he’d intended, and she finally met his eyes, hers wet, with an expression halfway between angry and miserable.

  “What would this … position … entail?” she said.

  Xan grimaced. “I didn’t mean … that!”

  He felt like a complete ass for making her think he wanted her for his bed. Worse, she was actually considering it.

  “Jo, look, I’m so, so sorry for how that sounded. I did not intend it that way.”

  She frowned, but at least, she didn’t flee into the forest.

  He sighed. She’d be scare
d no matter how he broached the subject. Probably best to just get it over with and show her.

  “Sit down,” he said.

  Jo glanced longingly at the woods once more before dropping onto a log.

  “I will not hurt you. I will not come anywhere near you. You are in no danger. Understand?”

  If there were a better way to scare her than telling her not to be scared, he couldn’t figure out how. He was such an idiot.

  After a long pause, she nodded.

  “Okay, here goes.” He propelled himself a dozen feet high and let himself drop, breaking his momentum just before the ground and landing gracefully.

  “You … You’re a …”

  “A mage.” He plastered another hopefully reassuring smile on his face. “Well, wizard actually.”

  “But …” Her eyes went really wide. “What are you going to do to me? Why …”

  Her breath came in rapid spurts. If she kept that up, she’d pass out.

  He rushed to her. “Put your head between your legs. Try to breathe deeply.”

  She took several minutes to get herself under control. “Please let me go. I swear not to tell anyone what you are. I don’t want to die.”

  “Jo, listen.” He waited until she slowly raised her head and met his eyes. “I will not hurt you. I promise.”

  “But … then … why?”

  Xan hunched his shoulders. “You can become a mage.”

  She paled and again had to put her head down and breathe to keep from passing out. Several minutes passed before she recovered. “Am I to be executed, then?”

  “Not if I can help it.” Xan told her about the world changing. “The nobles have been killing innocent people for years, and I aim to stop them. But I need your help.”

  “Won’t that mean … fighting? Killing? I …”

  “It means doing a lot of stuff,” Xan said, “including helping people who are starving because the nobles haven’t done their duty.”

  She glanced all around, her hands trembling. “And if I refuse?”

  Xan hesitated. “I need you. As in, my life and the lives of many people depend on getting you and people like you to join me.”