by B. T. Narro
It wasn’t Shaw himself who threatened the king and the kingdom he ruled over. It was men like the one standing between me and my escape. These dark mages were planning something, and they were using men with corrupted morals like Shaw and his friend to see their plan to fruition.
I had no doubt Cason Clay was involved. He was said to be more powerful than all the other sorcerers of dteria. He was the one who had recruited the one hundred soldiers and sorcerers from Rohaer who we’d intercepted in the forest. This small army was supposed to meet Cason in Koluk and help him take the city by force. One who we’d taken prisoner had eventually talked. Cason wasn’t finished, not even close. He wanted all of Lycast, not just Koluk.
This was a good first step—finding the house of a dark mage. I made sure to memorize the man’s beady eyes and double chin as I started to plan my escape around him, but his confident stare was starting to irk me. I was certainly not the first person he had coerced into handing over his coin. The gall of these dark mages. Nothing scared them anymore. Threatening someone in his own home demonstrated just how far his mind had gone because of the dteria.
Had they any idea what I was capable of, they would’ve planned this very differently. They were giving me far too much space right now as I held up my hands.
“I’m not going to ask again,” Shaw said. “Take out your coins.”
CHAPTER TWO
“Why the hell are you smiling?” Shaw demanded.
“Because you set a trap for a mouse, but you just caught a wolf.” I threw the dinner knife at the dark mage. He screamed as it stuck into his arm, and the sword dropped out of his hands.
I ran for it, but he swept his hand in my direction and a thick sheet of clear energy slammed into me. I was ready, however, hardening my body and mana to resist it, but the force of the spell still stopped me for a breath.
The dark mage stepped on the sword as I grabbed it. He cast the Dislodge spell again, throwing me back, but my grip on the sword was too strong as I took the weapon with me from under his foot, dislodging him onto his ass.
I swept my hand to the side, rolling the rotund man out of the way of the door with a strong push of my dvinia.
“He’s a dark mage!” he yelled as he rolled.
I knew I didn’t have time to unlock the door and open it before Shaw and Jacob got to me, but I at least threw the lock open before I spun around to face the two large men.
Shaw came at me first with the small ax. I ducked as he struck the door behind me.
Jacob swung the hammer at my ducked head, forcing me to roll toward the long table at the center of the room.
Jacob helped the dark mage up as Shaw pulled the ax out from the door. The three of them faced me, all blocking my exit.
I didn’t mind so much. I had gotten myself a sword.
“He’s no dark mage,” Shaw said. “We would’ve come across him before now.”
“Didn’t you just see him cast?” the dark mage retorted as he yanked the dinner knife out of his arm and set it down on a dresser. Then he fixed his silk shirt to cover his exposed belly and held his hand over his bleeding wound.
“Who are you?” Shaw asked me.
“Someone who’s going to make your lives much worse if you don’t let me out of here.”
“If he is a dark mage,” Jacob said, “then he’s rogue. Cason would pay well for his death.”
So that was why all the dark mages seemed to be working with one another. They either supported Cason or died.
“One thing’s clear,” Shaw said. “He never cared about the white wine. He’s here for us.”
“All the more reason to kill him.”
Jacob rushed me.
I threw the man back with a wide force of dvinia. He yelled out in shock as he landed on his rump and slid across the floor, his back banging against the door.
“This is your last warning,” I said. “You will let me leave, or I will have to do more than just defend myself.”
“Kill him, Greg,” the dark mage said.
“You kill him.”
The dark mage stepped toward me confidently, showing me a mean look. He probably thought himself to be ten times stronger than he really was.
He made a circular motion with both hands. A clear sheet of mana transformed into dteria and arced out from his body to come around behind me. I tried to brace myself, but it caught me before I was completely ready. I instantly knew I had underestimated this mage. I had never seen that kind of control over the dark energy before.
His dteria forced me to stumble forward toward all three enemies. With me unable to stop myself, Shaw swiped at me with the ax. I swung back with my sword at the same time, knocking his weapon out of his hand. I still couldn’t stop myself before running into Jacob and the hammer he was about to swing, so I lowered my shoulder and increased my momentum instead.
Only his wrist hit me in the back as I took him off the floor and slammed him into the door. I felt the hammer fall out of his hands and roll down my back. I was about to stab him in his thigh, but another force of energy tossed me to the side.
I tried to steady myself by grabbing a dresser as I stumbled into it, but I accidentally kicked it and spun around. I had to drop my sword to catch myself as I fell onto my hands.
The dark mage swept the weapon across the floor with another spell.
Damn, my sword.
Shaw and Jacob picked up their own weapons and rushed me as I was starting to get up.
I saw the bloody dinner knife had fallen from the dresser. I grabbed it and motioned like I would throw, both men stopping and turning their shoulders inward as they protected their faces. It gave me enough time to prepare another spell. I used this one to throw Shaw onto the dining table.
Jacob ran at me right after. I leaned back to avoid his hammer strike, then ducked under the next one and countered by stabbing the dinner knife into his leg.
He screamed as he fell to a knee.
The dark mage was rushing toward me with the sword in both hands. I casted Expel at his knee, a firm punch of my mana condensed into energy. Like dteria, dvinia was unfortunately soft, cushiony. It couldn’t do much damage on its own. But both energies were extremely durable, and the force behind my spell was strong, knocking the dark mage off gait. His last steps toward me were stumbles. I moved out of the way of the flailing sword and threw him by his silk shirt into a dresser that exploded beneath his massive body.
He fell among the splintering wood with a loud groan. Jacob pulled the knife from his leg and threw it at me, but I put up a shield of dvinia.
The spinning blade struck the small wall of energy in front of me and slowed as if flung into water. It still hit me, but not with nearly enough strength to do any damage. I bent down and picked it up as Shaw came at me with his little ax.
I motioned as if I would cast at Shaw. Predictably, he tensed as he turned to prepare for the spell, but I did not cast at all. Shaw was clearly shocked, and it was too late for him to strike me with his ax or stop his forward momentum as I jabbed the knife into the top of his arm.
He screamed and still attempted to bury the small ax into my neck. I ducked under it and created some distance, moving toward the center of the room. He cried out in pain as he pulled the knife from his arm.
Jacob grabbed hold of the table to help himself up. “What if it’s not dark energy he’s using?”
“What else…?” The dark mage cursed. “You’re right. It’s him.” He pointed at me. “That’s dvinia he’s using, or I would’ve felt the dteria. This is the bladedancer!”
“How can you be sure?” Shaw asked.
“Because how many bladedancers have you heard of?” shouted the dark mage.
“Could just be dvinia,” Shaw said. “Haven’t seen him wield a sword.”
“How many wizards have you heard of either? There’s only one, and it’s him!” The dark mage was panting in between words. “The bastard’s destroying my house as well! Kill him! Kill him already!”
Rage had clearly gotten the better of him, spit escaping his mouth as he spoke.
There had to be some way these dark mages were getting information about me. The other seven sorcerers and I had agreed to a binding oath to protect the king, but I wondered if someone could’ve found a way around the contract of ordia and now was a danger to the king. I didn’t know much about ordia generally, just that there were rules to it that seemed different than the other magical arts.
Whoever betrayed us needed to be found out, and soon. We had enough to worry about even if I could trust everyone who appeared to be an ally.
“This can all be over,” I said. “Come with me for questioning now. If you cooperate, I will allow your attacks against me to be ignored in your sentencing.”
Shaw pointed the dinner knife at me as he cursed the idea of cooperating. Then he pushed Jacob. “Go around. Get behind him.”
Jacob started around the other end of the table as he watched me carefully. I had no weapon left. The sword, which I very much wanted, was in the bloodied hands of the dark mage.
“Just approach him slowly,” Shaw told Jacob.
Shaw dropped the dinner knife, took the sword out of the dark mage’s hands, and started creeping toward me. Jacob did as well, from my other side.
“He can’t keep throwing us both back,” Shaw said. “T, pin him.”
The dark mage, sweating and panting, made a face of concentration. A barrier of the clear energy pushed my shoulder, inching me toward the wall. I hardened my mana to resist, but the mage was putting everything he had into the wrestling match.
“Now!” Shaw yelled.
Jacob ran around the long table as Shaw came at me from the other side. I dropped down to escape beneath the barrier of dteria pressing my torso against the wall, then dove under the table.
Shaw came after me headfirst. He was about to stab me with the sword when I kicked him in the mouth.
Still under the table, I could see Jacob’s feet changing directions to come around the other side. I prepared my spell, aimed, then slammed his shins with energy. He fell forward, slapping the ground with both hands as his face struck the hardwood floor as well. He let out a satisfying shriek as he rolled over, his hands covering his face.
Shaw, teeth bloody, tried to stab around my foot, but I kept kicking his hand back. Eventually he dropped the long sword and grabbed my shoe with both hands, then yanked me toward him. He grabbed my shirt and partially climbed on top of my legs.
He started to get his hands around my throat, but I got my palm underneath his torso and cast Expel upward. He shot up a foot and slammed his head against the bottom of the table. Shaw cursed up a storm as he came down to my side while grabbing his head. I took the chance to get out from under the table, grabbing the sword along the way, but I had to scurry back under to avoid the dinner knife stabbing at my head.
The dark mage tried to stab my leg as I darted away, but I got under the table cleanly. Shaw grabbed me from behind, his arms around my neck. I reached back and found his eye with one of my thumbs. As soon as I started to push, he let go of me and reeled back with more cursing.
The dark mage was showing his double chin as he leaned down in hopes of stabbing me, but a quick kick to his nose knocked him on his back.
I looked around for the sword, but it had been pushed away, so I grabbed the dinner knife next to the dark mage instead. He tried to grab me as he was getting up, but I pricked his hand.
“Bastard!” he cursed.
Soon I was the first one on his feet. Jacob was up next, the table between us. Blood ran out of one nostril as he seethed at me, the hammer in hand. I noticed something out the window and took a quick glance.
There stood Burda, gaping in horror. She must’ve followed us.
“Get the guards!” I yelled to her.
She darted away. Jacob cried out in anger as he slowly climbed onto the table and lumbered toward me. It was hammer against knife, but I had dvinia on my side. And unlike the sweaty dark mage still cursing at me, I still had plenty of stamina left.
I used Expel to hurl Jacob off the table. He flew into a wall, shattering a tall mirror framed in bronze.
“You idiot!” yelled the dark mage. “That cost me five gold coins!”
Jacob was especially slow getting up this time. He cursed at the dark mage as he pulled a shard of glass out of his shoulder.
There was so much cursing between the three of them that I couldn’t hear myself think.
“The guards are coming!” I yelled over them. “Give up.”
“You will die!” the dark mage said furiously as he slammed a sheet of dteria into me.
But he wasn’t nearly as strong as he thought himself to be now that he was so tired. I stood my ground as I pushed against it, my mana shielding me.
“Kill him!” the dark mage yelled.
Shaw crawled out from under the table wielding the ax, but I just tossed him away with Expel. The dark mage tried to knock me over with his dteria once more, but I stood tall.
Then the dark mage fell to a knee in exhaustion.
Shaw looked as if he would charge me again, but I brandished the dinner knife, and his expression showed defeat. He dropped the ax.
“It’s over,” he said. “We’ll cooperate.”
“I’m with Greg,” Jacob said, blood staining both sleeves of his coat. “It’s over.”
“Cason will kill you both!” the dark mage told them between wheezing breaths.
“You’re the one who couldn’t stand against the bladedancer,” Shaw argued as I went to the door to open it.
Two guards arrived, both men much older than me with their swords drawn. Burda was hustling over behind them. They all slowed when they saw my calm demeanor.
“It’s over. They’re cooperating with the arrest.”
The guards hesitantly entered and surveyed the scene. Most of the chairs were turned over, the table askew. Remnants of the broken dresser sat in a pile near the door. The shattered mirror was scattered around Jacob. All the men were bloody except me. The dark mage was pulling himself up from the floor, using the table for support.
Burda stuck her head in as the guards approached Jacob and Shaw with ropes. The men held out their hands begrudgingly.
“How did you fight all three of them on your own?” Burda asked me.
“I’m a sorcerer,” I told her. “These men are suspected of corruption.”
“So you were just fooling them earlier?”
“That’s right. You should get home. It’s past curfew.”
I was looking forward to getting back to my own bed as soon as I could. I had stayed out past the two hours necessary for my punishment, but the king was a fair man. I figured he would offer me some leniency and allow me to sleep in, perhaps even rid me of this pointless punishment after I had done so well tonight.
Burda seemed stunned as she looked at me. I left her alone so I could assist the two guards in cuffing the three criminals.
I was disappointed to see she was waiting outside the dark mage’s home by the time we got them through the door. I gave the dark mage’s key to one of the two guards when I was done locking the door, but I kept his sword with me just in case there was trouble along the way.
“Your cooperation will go a long way,” I reminded the three of them.
“Cason is going to have your head, Jon Oklar,” said the dark mage.
I had already assumed they’d figured out my identity, but to hear my whole name spoken sent a needle down my spine.
“You can start cooperating by telling me how you know my name.”
“I’m not saying anything unless I have a deal from the king himself.”
Shaw spoke up from ahead of us. “You’re not making a deal without involving us.”
“You can shut up,” the dark mage replied. “You’ve been nothing but useless since you were a guard, and you’re even more useless now.”
Burda came up to my side. “So your name is Jon Oklar?”
>
“Go home,” I urged her. “It’s not safe for you here.”
“I will soon. You work for the king?”
I looked around, fearing an impending ambush. But I took a breath and reminded myself that we had caught these three without any enemy knowing. We should be fine.
“Yes,” I answered her.
“Will he do anything about Red, the tavernkeep you met? He doesn’t force men to leave when they touch me. He doesn’t even scold them.”
“I do plan to speak to the king about that, but we are dealing with a rebellion. Is there any other place you can work?”
“No, my family doesn’t have coin to spare while I look for another job.”
I pulled out my coin purse and started to open it, but she closed her hand over it.
“That’s not the point. Something needs to be done about Red.”
I nodded as I put my coin purse away. “Even if the king doesn’t do something, I promise I will as soon as I can.”
“How long might it be?”
“A few days,” I said, too tired to think of a plan clearly right now.
A pained look went across her face. It reminded me of the look on Aliana when she described the harassment she’d endured at the same place as this girl.
The guard at the front yelled out, “Move, young woman. Go to the other side of the street.”
I looked ahead at a very familiar girl headed straight toward us.
“Greda?” I asked. “What are you doing here?” She worked at the Enchanted Devices shop. There should be no reason for her to be out here right now, past curfew.
“Move,” said the guard again, gesturing for her to step aside.
Greda stopped right in front of him, forcing him to come to a stop as well.
Greda wasn’t speaking…and she was taller than usual….
My heart dropped. I knew what this meant.
“Run Burda!” I yelled as I readied my sword.
“Why?” she asked.
“Get out of here now!” I commanded. “It’s an illusionist.”