“Do you know where they could be heading?” Kaiden asked hopefully.
The commander shook his head slowly and grimaced.
“If you’re thinking of going after them, do not. One of our ships tailed them earlier in the month. Looked like they had set sail from the city of Stormglade. Either they took it, or the Merchant King has gone mad.”
Kaiden looked to the horizon. The city of Stormglade had been built in the early days of the Kingdom of Delfinnia. Three hundred years ago, it had fallen to a rebellion, and ever since it had been run by the self-styled Merchant Kings. In truth, they were nothing more than pirates, and a thorn in the realms side.
“I recognise that look, friend,” the commander said. “Seriously, heed my words. Do not go there. The garrison at the Watchers will turn you away and even if you did make it through you’d have to contend with the tribes that roam the Great Plains.”
“I could go by sea,” Kaiden replied.
The soldier chuckled and shook his head.
“No you can’t. We received orders from Sunguard. No civilian ships are allowed to sail past the White Crag. Pirates and those raiders infest the seas beyond. They have had the navy stretched thin the past few weeks. I even heard they had sunk a convoy sailing from Blackmoor in the North West.”
Kaiden kicked the ground in frustration. He wanted to pursue his family, but the commander was right. He did not even have a sword, let alone a way to reach Stormglade. He swore under his breath and ran his hands through his long black hair. He looked to the north. He had allies there – powerful ones. Perhaps they would help him save his family. After a few seconds, he firmed his jaw and nodded thanks to the commander. He leapt into Herald’s saddle and spurred the horse into a trot.
He would head north to Caldaria and his friends.
6.
Caldaria’s crystal towers glinted in the sunlight. The scene always made Luxon smile. In the city, he felt safe, and the world’s many woes could be forgotten. He breathed in the air, noticing the freshness that the onset of winter often brought with it.
He and Yepert rode their horses towards the bridge leading to the gateway of the city. The place was thronging with people.
“What’s with all the people?” Yepert asked.
Luxon shrugged his shoulders.
Men and women were accompanied by children; each had a look of desperation on their faces. Some pulled carts laden with valuables behind them; others had no possessions. But all looked afraid.
“They look like refugees to me,” Luxon said. Since the battle of Eclin, large parts of the north had fallen to marauding Fell Beasts, or to the mountain tribes that had begun to swarm south. The Legion did their best to protect the people, but they were undermanned and overstretched.
Luxon groaned as people in the crowd spotted him. Some pointed and whispered to their friends as they recognised his wizard robes and staff. Some glared in anger, whilst others had hope etched onto their miserable faces.
“The wizard! The wizard is here!” cried a woman. More people turned to look at him, and an excited babbling built up amongst the crowd.
Yepert glanced nervously at his friend and brought his horse in closer, his hand drifting to the dagger tucked into the belt of his robe. The crowd pressed closer, and Luxon’s horse shifted nervously. To his amazement, some people reached out to touch him.
“You will save us, won’t you?” pleaded a young woman no older than himself. “The Fell Beasts burned our village and forced us to flee. We came here because of you. You have the power to save us.”
Luxon stared at the girl. These people saw him as some sort of messiah – a stark contrast to those he had encountered in the capital and in the south. He was about to say something when the banging of drums caused the crowd to part. Luxon looked up to see three riders dressed in black push their way through the masses. He sighed in relief as he recognised the Nightblade Welsly and two of his companions.
“Move aside, people,’ Welsly bellowed. ‘Let the wizard and his friend through.”
At the end of the bridge, the huge crystal doors of the gatehouse opened, and out marched fifty more black-clad Nightblades. They pushed the crowd apart to clear a route into the city.
“I will do what I can for you,” Luxon told the girl before Welsly took hold of his mount’s reigns and led the way towards the gates. The Nightblade glanced over his shoulder and smirked.
“I bet you weren’t expecting a welcome home like that?” he said over the noise.
“I’m glad you were here,” Luxon answered wiping his brow with the back of his hand. The encounter had spooked him. “Why are these people here? I would have thought Caldaria would be the last place folk would come in times of need, what with the Privy Council doing all it can to spread distrust of magic users.”
Welsly nodded. “A lot of folk from the eastern lands know the truth, and the Baron of Balnor has done all he can to dispel the slanders. These people believe that the mages can protect them from the Fell Beasts.”
“Has it really gotten that bad?” Yepert chimed in from behind them.
“It has. Three days ago, Fell Beasts attacked Balnor itself and ravaged their way through a large swath of land. It took the might of the fourth and eighth legions to check them. The Nightblades took a beating in the battle, so we have been recalled to Caldaria to regather our strength,” Welsly explained.
More hands reached out for Luxon but, the Nightblades shoved the people back.
“Looks like you two had a tough couple of days yourself,” Welsly said with a raised eyebrow. If anyone held a mirror up to Luxon and Yepert, they would have seen that their faces were covered in dirt and soot.
“Yeah … we had a bit of a run in with a dragon near the Great Wood,” Yepert answered. “I could kill for a bath.”
“Nothing serious I hope?”
Luxon let out an exasperated sigh.
“Probably. It’s just one of many things I need to discuss with Grand Master Thanos.”
* * *
Luxon sighed happily, as he sank into the hot waters of the bathtub. The heat soothed his tired limbs and the water washed away the dirt from the journey. He was in his private quarters, located in the Arch Tower.
As a wizard, he had his own lodgings in the tower. There were certainly benefits to being the first wizard in a century. He dipped his head under the water, enjoying the quiet that being submerged brought. In the tub, he could forget about everything. It was also his favourite place to think. He would meet with Grand Master Thanos and ask his permission to head after his mother. The senior mage would probably be able to offer some insight and advice.
He closed his eyes and thought back over the events of the previous few years.
After Eclin, he had tried to seek out his mother, but soon it became apparent that his time in the Void had changed him deeply. He suffered from terrible night terrors and, at times, visions that haunted him in his waking hours. The shakes he sometimes got were a symptom of an illness that Grand Master Thanos had called Void sickness. Nightblades and other spell casters that came into contact with Fell Beasts and Void tears sometimes suffered from a corruption of their magic. In the Void, magic existed, but like everything else in that foul place it was twisted and wrong. If he wasn’t careful, then the sickness could cause him to lose control of his powers. When it struck was unpredictable, but when it did he often suffered fits. Thanos had kept his affliction secret; only he, Thanos and Yepert knew of it.
The hot water let his mind drift to more pleasant memories. His thoughts drifted back to the night two years previously, when he had finally plucked up enough courage to ask Hannah to be with him. For years they had been just friends, but on the eve of the autumn festival that friendship had turned to love.
The festival had been in full swing, and Caldaria’s central plaza had been alive with jovial celebration. The city’s crystal towers had been covered in beautiful decorations such as brightly coloured flags and banners. The mages
also did their part by casting fantastically colourful spells that wowed and amazed the enthralled crowds. At the heart of the plaza, a band was playing traditional Delfin tunes. The fiddlers and drummers had the crowd dancing and it was there that Luxon’s eyes set upon Hannah. Her blond hair had been tied up into a braid and she wore a flowing white dress. She had been dancing all night long with her friends and her cheeks were flushed red with laughter, and her eyes sparkled with fun and life. He and Yepert had just left a nearby tavern. Perhaps it was the ale that gave him the confidence to move through the crowds and take her hand. The two danced throughout the night, under a night sky filled with fireworks. After the crowds left for their beds, Luxon and Alira had gone to one of the gardens located next to the magic schools. There they had talked until the sun rose in the east, and it was there they had first kissed.
Luxon lifted his head from the water as he heard the door to the bathroom creak open. For a second, he tensed but then soft hands wrapped themselves about his neck and the smell of perfume drifted into his nostrils.
“I cannot believe you did not come to see me as soon as you entered the city,” a woman’s voice whispered seductively into his ear. “I would have scrubbed your back for you … and maybe something else too.” Luxon smiled as the soft hands made their way into the water. He groaned loudly when they found their target.
“I couldn’t have come to you stinking of the road, Hannah,” he sighed.
Hannah giggled and pulled her hands of the water, much to Luxon’s dismay. She walked around the tub and sat on the rim. The healer’s long blond hair reached down to her shoulders. A large red bow divided it into a ponytail. Her blue eyes sparkled with mischief as she raised a long tanned leg from under her dress and lowered it into the warm water.
Luxon and Hannah had been in a relationship for two years. Their courtship had been long and she had been difficult to seduce, but she was his and he was hers. She was five years older than he was, but she was more beautiful because of it.
“I have a lead on the location of my mother,” Luxon said.
Hannah’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You’ve searched for clues for years, Lux, and you found no trace of her. What’s changed?”
Luxon shrugged his shoulders, making some water spill over the bathtub’s rim.
“I know she was a member of the Diasect, and I know she went into hiding after leaving me here to escape Cliria’s attention. She knew how to disappear. Perhaps now she wants to be found?”
“Or, perhaps she’s in danger,” Hannah replied, a look of worry on her face. Luxon moved forwards sending water in all directions and wrapped his hands around her leg.
“You’ve got me wet, you sot!” Hannah laughed.
Luxon smiled and looked up at her with a roguish grin.
“Don’t worry. I am going to talk with Thanos about it. This is something I have to look into. She is my mother.”
Hannah moved out of his grip and took a towel from the nearby rack.
She held it open for him as he climbed out of the tub. She watched him coyly. At nineteen years old, Luxon had grown into a tall, strong man.
His training under Thanos had made him physically fit and muscular. With his sandy blond hair and blue eyes, she was a lucky woman.
“Before you go to see Thanos, perhaps we could say hello properly?” she whispered in his ear. Luxon smirked before wrapping his arms around her and carrying her into the chambers and towards the bed.
“Thanos can wait,” he growled.
* * *
The grand master of the mages stood with his back to the doorway.
Luxon coughed. He hated it when he had to wait. For five years, he had been Thanos’s apprentice, and although the title of wizard outranked that of the arch mage, he remained a student.
Thanos turned and fixed his startling blue eyes onto his pupil.
“I had hoped you would visit me sooner, Luxon. There is much we need to talk about.”
Luxon rubbed his neck awkwardly.
“Yeah, sorry about that … I got distracted,” he replied meekly.
Thanos smirked.
“Young love often causes us to be distracted, my lad. You have nothing to apologise for.” The arch mage smiled as he offered a cup of wine to his young apprentice.
Luxon took the cup, his face flushing with embarrassment. Thanos smiled knowingly and gestured for him to sit down on one of the crystalline chairs tucked behind a desk. Scrolls and tomes lay haphazardly on its surface.
Luxon coughed nervously.
“So, er, back to business Master Thanos,” he sputtered.
Thanos chuckled taking his own seat.
“Yes of course,” he replied. “I trust your journey to the capital went well? I must admit I was surprised when you told me that Davik had summoned you. Nothing amiss I hope?”
Luxon slouched back in his chair and threw his hands in the air in exasperation.
“Where to start?” he moaned.
Thanos raised an inquisitive eyebrow at his pupil.
“How about the beginning, I always find that’s a good place to start.”
Luxon took a deep breath and told the arch mage all that had occurred on his journey south. He told him of Davik’s theory about his mother, his concerns over the king, the sigil stone, and his run in with the dragon on the King’s Road. Thanos sat silently throughout, his eyes not betraying any emotion or concern.
By the time Luxon was done, the sun was starting to go down and the room was getting dark. With a gesture of Thanos’s wrist, the candles and lamps affixed to the chambers walls flared into life.
“This business with the dragons is worrying,” Thanos said, pouring himself another drink, “but the thing that concerns me the most is the news of your mother.”
“Why?” Luxon asked in curiosity.
“Why? Because she has been in hiding for years, and now, following rumours of Danon’s schemes and attacks in the south, she emerges from her hiding place.”
Thanos picked up one of the scrolls lying on the desk and unfurled it. He took a small glowing stone from a drawer and placed it onto one of the corners of the parchment to act as a paperweight. Luxon leaned forward. On the scroll was a map of the realm. Several notes had been scribbled in black ink. Thanos pointed to the fortress of the Watchers.
“Your mother passed through the fortress and onto the Great Plains. There is nothing there, save for barbarian tribes and Fell Beasts. Her destination must be the city of Stormglade. I have received reports that the legion fleet has stopped all ships sailing towards the area, and two legions have been sent to the Watchers. Something is afoot in that city, and I bet you fifty Delfins that it has something to do with Danon.”
Luxon’s eyes widened.
“The Dark One would not sit back after his defeat at Eclin and cower. No, he has been planning something. He is up to something, and your mother must have an idea as to what that could be. The Diasect had access to lore and tomes that even we mages do not.”
Luxon felt a twinge of excitement in his gut. He had been nervous to ask, but it seemed as though Thanos was just as curious over his mother’s reappearance as he was.
“Send me after her,” Luxon said eagerly. “If Danon is up to something, I will be the only one that can face him.”
Thanos frowned.
“Some days you act like a wise old man and yet on others you act like a child,” Thanos rebuked; rather harshly, Luxon thought.
Thanos sighed.
“You are right. However, I will not let you make such a journey alone. I fear that grave danger awaits you across the plains. Whatever Danon is planning, it is sure to be terrible.”
Luxon could not help but smile. Finally, he would begin his search for his mother.
The door to the chamber burst open with a bang, making Luxon jump.
Thanos glared at the door and at the intruder standing in its frame. Luxon turned. Standing there, his face twisted into an angry snarl, was Fer
ran of Blackmoor. Without as much as a hello, he stormed into the room and slammed his hands down onto the desk.
“Where did you send her, Thanos?” the Nightblade growled.
Luxon squirmed under his friend’s glare. Thanos, however, showed no reaction at all.
“I sent Sophia to Kingsford,” he replied coolly. “One of my spies learned of a meeting taking place there between a Sarpi warlord and one of the Baron of Retbit’s men.”
Luxon gulped at hearing the title of his old enemy.
Accadus of Retbit had been the son of the Baron of Retbit and of the man who had sentenced Luxon’s own father to death. The two had hated each other intensely. After the battle of Eclin, Accadus had murdered his own father and taken control of the barony of Retbit, which he then declared a separate kingdom. Since then, the King’s Legion had clashed with Retbit on numerous occasions, but no decisive battle had occurred.
“Sarpi? Accadus? What does any of that have to do with my wife?” Ferran shouted angrily.
The Nightblade’s hands gripped the desk tightly; the man was shaking with rage.
Thanos raised his hands.
“She volunteered, Ferran. She came to me of her own volition. You were away and time was of the essence.”
Ferran stood back from the desk and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He spotted Luxon and nodded his head in greeting.
“Luxon … sorry, I didn’t see you there. I get home from that mess in Resden to find my wife missing. I apologise, Thanos, for my rudeness, but where is she? Welsly told me she left Caldaria a month ago. Surely she should have returned by now?”
Thanos smiled.
“She is a very capable woman. I am sure she can handle herself. And I am sure that at this very moment she is on her way back to us.”
7.
Sophia looked up at the gibbet that was swinging gently in the morning breeze. The body of a young mage lay within. His only crime had been to use magic to heal a sick little girl. Sophia had seen horrors in her time as a witch hunter, but these past few days had left a mark.
War for the Sundered Crown (The Sundered Crown Saga Book 2) Page 5