Gryphon (Rise of the Mages Book 2)

by Brian W. Foster

  She nodded.

  There had to be a way she could save her life using sound. He pondered for a moment before a thought struck him. Perfect.

  Combining his masser abilities and his kinetic power, he dug a pit a hundred feet deep.

  Tina stared at him, more curious than afraid.

  That wouldn’t work. Fear was more likely to give the proper motivation. “I saved Jo because she was weak. Worthless to me. You have more potential. There will be no rescue if you fail.”

  “Yes, my lord wizard.” She still showed more determination than fear. That would have to be good enough.

  “Okay.” He pushed her kinetically into the hole.

  She screeched as she fell. A small yelp, actually, but still the most reaction he’d gotten from her.

  Just before she hit bottom, Xan broke her fall. She hit the dirt and tumbled onto her backside. As she gathered herself and rose to her feet, he felled three large trees. After breaking the trunks into logs the length of the hole’s width, he wedged them into the pit less than a foot above her head, forming a platform.

  “My lord wizard, what are you doing?” She sounded scared. Finally.

  “Burying you under a hundred feet of dirt and rocks,” he said. “And I have no plans of enhancing my hearing. No matter how loud you scream, I’ll never hear it.”

  She inhaled deeply. Good.

  “Your air will run out fast,” he said. “And I don’t know how long those logs will hold back that weight, either.”

  “But … but …”

  “Scream for help.”

  “Wait! You said you couldn’t hear … I don’t understand, my lord wizard.”

  “Mages can increase energy, which, in this case, means increasing the volume of your words.”

  “How, my lord wizard?”

  “It’s easy. Simply wish for the yell to be loud enough.”

  She swallowed hard but asked no more questions. He dumped a load of dirt on the platform.

  “Tina?”

  “Yes, my lord wizard?”

  “Wish hard.” He filled the hole with dirt and rocks.

  Xan paced the clearing. The last thing he wanted was to imagine what it must be like for her down there, trapped, buried alive under a ton of dirt and rock. But he couldn’t not imagine it. Complete darkness. Fearing being crushed. The air getting short. Suffocating.

  Five minutes. No surge. Ten. No surge.

  What kind of rads-infested ass would do something like that to an innocent person?

  He didn’t have a choice, though. The fate of Marco and the rest of Hosea’s family and all the other people counting on him depended on finding mages.

  Well, if she had to suffer, the least he could do was listen to every excruciating detail. He enhanced his hearing.

  Her breathing was labored. Short gasps. Was her air supply already that low?

  No. Crying. Though she’d been so stoic. Strong. Forceful.

  His motivations were just, but how, exactly, was he any different than the nobles he hated so much?

  Let’s see. Nobles sacrificed anyone and anything for their own gain. So did he. They thought they knew what was best for everyone. So did he. They made commoners suffer. So did he.

  Great.

  He needed to be different. But he also needed to convert potentials to mages. Fast.

  The logs creaked under the weight of dirt and stone. They could give out at any time.

  She coughed. Probably dirt pouring onto her, then. The platform hadn’t collapsed, but the soil must have found a crack, one that would widen. Complete failure was likely not far off.

  He ran a hand through his hair.

  She wanted the power that came with being a mage, and she deserved the chance to get it.

  But at what cost? How awful and terrifying it must be down there.

  He cringed. What if there were spiders?

  Her becoming a mage wasn’t worth what he was putting her through. He had to find a better way.

  “Help!” Tina yelled.

  The roar was deafening. Intense pain hit his ears, and everything went silent.

  His eardrums. Tina had surged, and he’d been listening with enhanced hearing. Good grief but that was stupid.

  But Tina had done it.

  Xan frantically lifted dirt from the hole, hoping he could get her out in time. Finally, he removed the logs. She was filthy, her face streaked with tears. She stared at him with a mixture of hatred, gratitude, and abject terror.

  He didn’t blame her.

  After he’d healed his ears, he said, “Tina Hurst, I hereby declare you to be a harken, and the first official member of my mage corps. Congratulations.”

  33.

  Xan rolled out a map in the middle of a clearing.

  Using rocks and sticks, he trapped the yellowed corners on the ground. Though he wouldn’t bet much on its accuracy, it was good enough to get a sense of direction. He circled it, deep in thought.

  Buoyed by his success with Tina and having exhausted the refugee camps, he’d spent the last two days testing every citizen in Calkirk and found three mages—Kaye Ayala, a kineticist; Ellis Ingram, a death mage; and Kennan Berger, an alchemist. Better still, Xan had gotten all three to surge without, you know, killing anyone.

  Having four mages was a luxury but also a burden as it fell to him to determine how best to utilize them. He looked up. The sun drifted low on the horizon, and he’d asked Hosea to gather several others and meet at the clearing just before dusk. Xan didn’t have long to plan his next step.

  Besides getting his people to Eye Lake, he needed to feed everyone through the winter. If he could find more death mages, magic should ensure the health of livestock and provide huge crop yields despite the season.

  But first he had to buy that livestock. And seeds. Which meant gold.

  Like it or not, the three kingdoms ran on it. He’d need it to pay mages and servants and, he supposed, soldiers. To buy cloth for uniforms. Wagons. Weapons. Building materials.

  Not good since he had almost no gold. What he’d taken for the soldiers hadn’t been a drop in the bucket compared to what he needed to run a nation.

  Xan hesitated. He had an idea where to get some, but it was a mission he’d have to do himself. Meaning he’d have to leave the group to fend for themselves. A group that, since Hosea had been recruiting, numbered over two hundred and fifty.

  That was a lot of people. And a lot of responsibility. Their safety rested solely on Xan. They could be attacked or be hit by disease or any number of things.

  Surely, though, two mages were enough to protect them from anything short of a concentrated attack by enemy magic users, especially if he included the death mage to take care of any healing.

  Xan let out a long breath. Doing everything himself wouldn’t work. He had to delegate.

  Okay, he’d go after the gold and trust Hosea to get the group safely to its destination.

  That decision made, the question became what to do with the extra two mages. He could have them accompany him, guard the group, or … recruit more mages.

  Either of those first options would be safe. Prudent. But with all Xan wanted to accomplish, playing it safe wasn’t likely to work fast enough. Speed meant taking risks.

  So was trusting people he’d known for less than a few days a necessary risk, or was it being reckless?

  If he sent the two on a recruitment mission, they could be killed in their sleep by fearful villagers, ambushed by the enemy, or run off with the resources and power he’d granted them.

  It was a tough call, but by the time Hosea, Buck, and the four mages joined Xan, he’d decided.

  The map showed the whole of the three kingdoms, and Eye Lake dominated the center. An oval lake surrounded an island, consisting of a sandy outer ring and a lighter inner one, and a circle of high mountains enclosed the lake. The features combined to give the appearance of a pupil, iris, eyeball, and socket.

  A pass to the northwest allowed passage t
o Bermau and one to the northeast to Kaicia. The final road ran due south, leading to Bermau’s border with Dastanar.

  “We’re here.” He pointed to Calkirk and traced roads leading from the city to a town, Heart Harbor, located at the base of the northwest pass. “Hosea, take the group to Heart Harbor. Kaye and Ellis, go with him.”

  Of the mages Xan had recruited from Calkirk, he trusted those two the most. Both were from poor families who were as much Pate’s victims as the refugees were. The presence of Kaye’s young daughters with the group would motivate her not to let anything happen, and Ellis was over fifty years old. Hopefully, his age made him less likely to take rash action.

  “I’m trusting you two to protect the group at all costs,” Xan said. “Are you willing to do that?”

  Both nodded.

  “Good.” Xan traced a semicircular route up and around and down to Heart Harbor. “Tina, you and Kennan travel this way.” He held back a grimace.

  Kennan was the son of a merchant, one who sat on Calkirk’s council. Xan hadn’t wanted to test any of the richer citizens, but Kennan had pleaded that he was different. Idealistic. And desperately desirous to make up for the ills his family had contributed to.

  Only Xan’s extreme need had made him waver.

  The thought of letting someone he trusted that tenuously go with Tina made him want to puke, but what were his options? Send her alone? He needed two to go with the group, and if Kennan were to betray someone, Xan would rather lose Tina than over two hundred innocents.

  “Stop at each village along the way,” Xan said. “Test everyone you can for the ability to become a mage.”

  She raised her eyebrows.

  “The test itself is easy,” Xan said. “I’ll teach you after we finish this meeting. The hard part is that most people are terrified of magic, meaning getting them to let you check them will be problematic at best. Offer money. Trick them. Threaten them. I’ll leave it to your judgment.”

  “Yes, my lord wizard.”

  “The most important thing, and this goes for all mages …” Xan met the eyes of each of the four in turn. “No magic unless absolutely necessary. Any usage reveals your location. King Barius probably has catchers searching for threats. The queen and Duke Asher likely want to eliminate anyone powerful enough to challenge the status quo. Understand?”

  Xan waited until all the mages had nodded. “Good. If you must use magic for your protection, keep it brief and move on quickly afterward.” He turned to Hosea. “Best if she had mundane protection as well. Pick out a half-dozen men we can trust and give them our best weapons.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  “Buck,” Xan said, “Tina’s mission is both important and dangerous. I don’t feel right ordering you to leave your family, but I’d like someone I can trust to look after her.”

  He grinned. “At your command, my lord.”

  “Thank you,” Xan said. “To be clear, though, Tina is in command. Follow her orders as you would mine.”

  Buck nodded, but Tina looked shocked.

  “Me?” she said. “But my lord wizard …”

  “I want a mage to be in charge,” Xan said, “and no offense to Kennan, you’re the better choice.”

  “But …”

  “You can do this,” Xan said. “Trust me.”

  “My lord wizard, I’m a woman.”

  “Obviously.”

  “You’re putting me in charge of men!”

  “Tina, are you smart? Determined? Capable? Loyal to me?”

  She sighed. “Yes, my lord wizard.”

  “Look,” Xan said. “I understand you’re accustomed to a certain way of doing things, but we’re in a fight for our lives. I need the best person for the job. If that’s a woman, fine. If that’s a man, fine. If that’s a ten-year-old kid … then that’s just the way it has to be.”

  She started to speak again and, from her expression, it would be yet another objection.

  He stopped her by holding up his hand. “Kennan, do you have any problem following her commands?”

  “No, my lord wizard.”

  “What about you, Buck?”

  He grinned. “I reckon I’ve been doing what Colleen told me to do since we took our vows before the tender.”

  “See?” Xan said to Tina. “You’re the only one who objects.”

  She frowned. “Fine. Find mages. Don’t use magic. I’ll get it done somehow, my lord wizard.”

  “Good,” Xan said. “We leave at dawn.”

  * * *

  Xan flew high above a sparsely vegetated area at the base of a mountain.

  No buildings dotted the landscape, but roads were carved into the rock, leading down to a large stream that had been obviously widened and deepened. That was the place.

  Goldstream.

  Good thing Marisol told the story of the Lion destroying the town. Without her, he’d have never known of its existence. And without the stories of people still dying scaring everyone away, there was no way a productive goldmine would be just sitting there waiting for him.

  Xan followed a smooth path from the site of the town up into the mountains until it disappeared into a cave. After using his blighting magic to clear harmful energy emanations, he landed and scanned himself. Life flowed out of him at his normal rate. Perfect.

  The blast had caused the cave to collapse in many areas, and accessing it would have been tough without both his mass and kinetics abilities. Even with them, he spent hours clearing and stabilizing the tunnels.

  Finding the gold turned out to be trivial. Glittering veins contrasted with the deep, dark brown of the surrounding normal rocks, and he broke off large chunks by increasing the weight of hanging tips and thrusting them into a pile, stopping when he had more than would fit in a single wagon.

  Which he didn’t have.

  He’d planned on taking a nugget and flying to the nearest town to buy one, but a half-dozen carts inside the mine hadn’t been touched by the explosion. Years of rust and neglect had damaged them, but by piecing together parts and pieces, he fashioned one that worked.

  Xan piled it high with pure ore and, after reducing its weight, propelled it up a shaft. Unfortunately, the thing weighed a lot, and the combination of flying it and himself drained him. Fast. Not to mention that using so much magic would draw attention.

  He sighed. No use worrying over that which couldn’t be helped.

  As he was about to leave, he spotted a bush. A very particular and rare bush.

  His heart sped. He rubbed his eyes. Surely, he wasn’t seeing what he thought. Couldn’t be. None of the apothecary books mentioned licuna seeds growing wild.

  No matter how much he rubbed and doubted, though, the bush didn’t go away.

  “Bad idea. Really, really bad idea.”

  He didn’t need them. Didn’t really even want them.

  Why not, though? Just one wouldn’t hurt. And he had a lot of work to do. A stimulant would help with that.

  “One. And only one.”

  Xan picked it from the bush and popped it into his mouth. The chemicals hit his body like a bolt. He’d forgotten how good that felt. Man!

  He stared at the bush. His best choice—the responsible choice—was to set the thing on fire so that it could never hurt anyone.

  Okay, if he were being honest, he should burn it so he’d never be tempted again.

  On the other hand, the seeds were medicine, and one never knew when medicine might come in handy. Even Master Rae would frown on wantonly destroying medicine, right?

  Xan nodded. And if he wasn’t going to destroy them, he might as well harvest them. No harm in that.

  He found himself humming as he worked.

  34.

  Ashley groaned as she topped a rise.

  She’d hoped they’d be close enough to see Escon. Instead, the road stretched ahead endlessly, meaning at least one more night before arriving. Probably more.

  They would never get there.

  There was absolutely not
hing worse than life on the trail without her chef or her bed. The previous night, she’d been forced to sleep in an inn that didn’t even have a room reserved for high nobles.

  Ahead of her, Tasia reined her horse to a full stop and looked to the southeast. An instant later, Lainey did the same.

  Ashley peered that direction. Nothing obvious caught her attention. No fire. No smoke. No noise. Had they lost their ever-loving minds? Staring off into the distance like dolts.

  “Will the two of you get a move on?” Ashley said. “Ridiculous slowpoke morons slowing us down.”

  “Us?” Tasia said. “We’re the ones slowing us down?”

  Ashley seethed. Her prerogative as a lady was to demand baths every night and a full breakfast every morning. “You’re the ones stopped in the middle of the trail.”

  Tasia started to retort, but Ashley cut her off. “What are you looking at, anyway?”

  “Xan, my lady.” Lainey smiled, the first time she’d expressed anything other than misery since leaving the castle. “It has to be him. He’s the only person stupid enough.”

  “What?” Ashley said.

  “Magic, my lady, and lots of it,” Lainey said. “And not in the direction of the castle or Eagleton. More than we sensed two days ago. It’s as close to confirmation that he’s alive that we can get.”

  The two of them were almost giddy, and as much as Ashley wanted to be disgusted, she couldn’t find it in herself. Her lips curled upward. Whatever differences she and Xan had would be resolved. The only question was whether to wed before or after dealing with Dastanar.

  Before. Definitely before. She wouldn’t let him slip away again. As soon as she finished with the queen, she’d find him.

  Ashley let out a long, contented breath.

  She froze.

  What the blast was she doing? Feeling happy because Xan was alive because she, what, missed him? Planned on pursuing him like some lovesick cow?

  No.

  He was a tool, nothing more. A means to accomplish her goal of becoming the most powerful woman in the three kingdoms.

  That he was alive should make her happy but only because it made her path easier.

  “Teach me to sense magic,” Ashley said.