Branded Mage

by D. W.

  Darryl doubled over laughing, his eyes watering slightly. A few times Thad was sure she might fall into the fire. “Ah! What it was like, to be that young. I don’t doubt she’s enjoying teasing you a bit more because of your nature, but that don’t mean it’s all a joke kiddo. Even if you say there is nothing special about you, you have to realize that for the lie it is. You’re the only mage to have existed for the past thousand years. If I could do half the things you could, I would be spending a lot more time with the ladies and less with theses oafs.”

  Thad thought about what Darryl was saying. He was a mage, but he didn’t think that made him any more attractive to females. He knew the princess had a crush on him, but he was sure she would grow out of it as she aged. Monique had been a little upset when she had caught him and Eloen before, but he figured it was just sisterly concern. Was he wrong?

  Darryl slapped him heavily on the back, still laughing. “I’ll leave you to your thoughts. Don’t strain yourself.”

  In the academy there were very few females’ slaves and the ones that were there, were kept isolated from the boys. Sure there had been the mothers who had taught them, but that was hardly the same as being around women that were his age.

  Trying to figure out the women in his life caused him more headaches than his magic ever had. Setting the problem aside, he just hoped as he grew older he would understand them better.

  Wanting to escape his current dilemma, he headed back to his own bedroll and picked up one of the battle harnesses and began to work. Magic was one thing that never changed on him. Once he figured out something, it stayed the same. It didn’t suddenly decided to change how it wanted to work.

  The battle harnesses were simple pieces of metal covered in leather that were useful in stopping sword blows. Even without a gem he could triple their strength and durability, but with a gem he could make them almost indestructible. Of course, that was only useful against preventing the cut. Whoever was in the armor would still feel the blow, he hadn’t been able to figure that out yet

  Suddenly a thought hit him; he had used a momentum aiding enchantment with Darryl’s sword to make them easier to swing. He hadn’t tested it, but in theory that should also add more force to the blows. If he could reverse the spell, it should be able to use an objects own momentum against it. It would be a low magic cost since most of the power would be coming from the object and not the spell.

  Looking down at his pile of cat eye gems that he had brought with him, Thad let out a heavy sigh. His stack had grown much smaller. Almost a third of the gems had already been used. If he remembered right, they came from the western section of mines, down by Tremon. So he hoped when they reached the large trading town, he would be able to get more.

  Before putting a spell on anything for personal use, he needed to test it first. He couldn’t just run to town and pick something up so he had to make do with what he had. Searching through his pack, he found his extra set of boots. It wasn’t perfect, but he could always buy a new pair.

  The first attempt went horribly wrong. While the boot would stop and push back when it reached the ground, it also did the same in both directions. Thad was glad he hadn’t tried to run with the boot on. Most likely his leg would have been ripped from his body and flung a great distance.

  He tried again with the other boot. He added in a direction condition to the spell so it only faced away from the boots sole, not in three hundred and sixty degrees. It worked perfectly or close enough to perfect for him. If he swung his hand at it hard at a few inches his hand would suddenly stop and be pushed backward. The more force he put into the swing the harder the force that pushed back. When he threw it at and immovable object, such as the ground, the resulting negative force would cause the boot to move back, but at only at half the strength of the initial force. It wouldn’t stop anything moving slowly and he planned to add in a few other protective measures so if two of the battle harnesses met they wouldn’t act violently against each other’s enchantments. It would take a bit more tinkering, but he was sure he was onto something.

  He worked late into the night, using anything he could to help fine tune his new enchantment until it was ready to start being used on the equipment. He was in a working daze and he could feel his head starting to throb lightly. He figured there was still had an hour or two left in him before his headaches became a problem.

  He was testing his fourth try when a sharp ringing enveloped his ears. “I thought I told you to take it easy? Do I have to set a guard on you to make sure you don’t work?” Eloen’s voice was harsh and the look on her face clearly showed she was not pleased with him at the moment.

  Trying to calm her wrath, he held up a small metal piece, only slightly bigger than his head. “Try and hit it with a rock.”

  Her face still showing her ire, Eloen picked up a small rocked and chunked it at him. Acting quickly he moved the plate intercepting the rock. As soon as the rock reached the plate’s momentum field, it reversed direction and flew back toward Eloen hitting her in the stomach.

  “Very cleaver mage boy, but I meant what I said. Next time I catch you up past bunk time, I’ll have Ballard baby sit you until we reach Southpass.” Eloen said giving him a scathing glare.

  The look in her eyes left Thad no doubt that she meant what she had said. Nodding his head in acknowledgement, he quickly packed away everything in his travel sack and jumped under the covers of his bed roll.

  He tried to think of anything else he might need to add to his new design, but he was much more tired than he had thought and had a hard time keeping focus. Before he knew it, his eyelids had dropped over his eyes and he was sleeping peacefully.

  CHAPTER X

  The past few days they had continued to move at a snail’s pace. If they had been traveling alone, they would have already reached Tremon. At this point, they were still two days away. It wasn’t that he was ready to get to Southpass, but he was tired of spending all day every day in his saddle.

  Eloen had watched him closely over the past few days, making sure he was in his bed well before the fires were extinguished. Even with the decreased time he had to work, he had been able to finish the new battle harnesses for Eloen’s group.

  As Eloen had predicted the other soldiers had started to slowly come around asking for similar enhancements of their equipment. While he didn’t want to seem cold or callous, he did make them pay a small amount for the work. It wasn’t near what he charged the queen, but would still cover the cost of his own supplies with a bit to spare. In all honesty, the work was often tedious and repetitive, but it gave him something to occupy his time while on the road. As long as he didn’t go too deep, he found he could enchant from Apple’s saddle.

  The first few times he had tried to enchant from the back of Apple, he had nearly fallen from his saddle, only staying up thanks to Ballard’s quick acting of grabbing him as he slipped. Like anything else, it took some trial and error, but he finally learned just how far he could go before it became dangerous. Eloen wasn’t overly pleased with his new habit, often mentioning that if they were attacked his reaction time would be too slow to respond properly. She had a point so to appease her he always wore his shield while he worked. Every three days he had to take a break and let the rings completely recharge. While Eloen didn’t completely like the situation, she couldn’t find a convincing argument against it.

  Of all the monotonous work, he was also asked for a few unique items. Some of them were easy to figure out, but others posed quite a challenge. One of the men wanted him to make him enchanted arrows that would fly farther and faster than a normal arrow.

  Thad’s first thought was to enchant the bow but he could never figure out how the enchantment would actually apply to the arrow. It was enough to place a core in the bow for the spell, but how the spell actually functioned was what gave him the trouble.

  He then tried to make the arrows themselves enchanted, but the only way he could find to make it work was to make the arrowhead it
self the core and for that to work it would have to be made out of crystal or a gem. He explained the trouble to the solider, who wasn’t daunted, but promised that he would procure some crystals so he could have some made. The idea still intrigued Thad so when he had spare time, he would draw up designs for the magical arrows on parchment that Duchess Alysia had given him.

  “You’re still working too hard. You know Eloen is staring daggers at you right now.” Darryl said reining his horse next to him.

  Looking over his shoulder, he saw that he was telling the truth. Eloen’s eyes were completely focused on him and she didn’t look pleased. “I’m not working that hard, it’s more to keep my mind busy so I don’t go crazy with boredom.” Thad replied dejectedly.

  Darryl flashed him his usual light hearted smile. “From what I heard, she’s been a little worried about you ever since you almost passed out at dinner, but that’s just hearsay. You might want to talk to Ballard. They have known each other since childhood. I’m sure he would know what you can do, or not do to make the Captain happy.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “See that you do, she’s been a pain to deal with ever since you two had that little lovers quarrel.” Darryl said mockingly.

  Before Thad could come up with a response, Darryl turned his horse around and galloped back over to where the rest of the group rode. Thad felt exasperated, everyone had been continually teasing him about his and Eloen’s relationship. He didn’t think it would bother him so much, but he just wasn’t sure where they actually stood, or if he wanted to pursue a relationship with her.

  She was beautiful; there was no doubt about that. He enjoyed the time he spent with her for the most part. She made him laugh and her live the day attitude mixed with the devotion she showed to her duty was admirable, but he didn’t feel like she was looking far into the future. In truth, he didn’t understand himself well enough to know where he was going until he was there. He just didn’t feel secure enough to court any woman.

  His mind was pulled back into the present when a dark haired soldier jogged up next to him. Thad couldn’t remember his name even though he had talked the young man a couple of time over the past few days. He was only a few years older than Thad, no older than eighteen at most.

  “Master Torin, what are you working on today?” The young man asked, his voice brimming with excitement.

  The young man had shown a very keen interest in magic and had asked countless questions on its use. Thad figured the soldier had hopes of learning the practice himself even though he had said nothing of the sort himself. Thad had thought about trying to teach him, but with the little time they had alone he knew it would have to be put off until they reached Southpass.

  “I was just finishing up a magical lantern for the watches. Captain Marcus asked if I could make a few that would allow the men to see in specific areas without having to light up the whole place.” Thad replied offhandedly.

  “Can I see it?”

  “I don’t see why not.” Thad said, handing the enchanted lantern over to the young soldier. “Just touch the spot there on the side to turn it on and off.” Thad said pointing to a small design of a flame he had carved on the side of the lantern.

  The soldier turned it on and off numerous times, marveling at how the light only focused in one direction. It had taken a little thought, but using a copper coin, he made it so the light shined outward from one of its sides so that it would meet Captain Marcus’s request.

  “Wow! It’s amazing, how did you get it to do that?” The soldier said handing the lantern back to Thad.

  Reaching down, Thad went to take the lantern from the soldiers hand when it fell from his grasp. The lantern seemed to move in slow motion as it tumbled to the ground, followed by the young soldier who had a fletching sticking from his back.

  Thad looked around, noticing another half dozen soldier falling to the ground as a cry of alarm went through the ranks. Suddenly he was pulled from his horse and surrounded by a group of soldiers. He didn’t recognize any of the people around him, but they all seemed intent on shielding him from any harm. He tried his best to force his way through them so he could aid the fight, but they refused to budge.

  Suddenly Captain Harmon was beside him. The man held firmly onto his arm pulling Thad behind him. “Master Torin, stay behind me.”

  Harmon was a nice middle aged soldier who kept his scalp shaved bald. He was slightly shorter than Thad, around five foot eight, but he was build was extremely muscular to the point many of the soldiers called him Harmon the dwarf.

  “Captain I can assure you I have plenty of protection. We should join in the battle to make sure as many as possible survive this engagement.” Thad said, trying once again to force his way past the bear of a man.

  “The duchess’s orders were quite clear. Our main objective is to make sure nothing happens to you until you are safely delivered to the Southpass Fort Master Torin.” Harmon said while he easily held Thad behind him with one of his massive hands.

  “I have a magical shield. Nothing they have can touch me.” Thad pleaded as he heard the dying cries of men rising into the air. He couldn’t see over the group of men surrounding him, but the sound of battle had sprung up all around him. He wanted to help, he wanted to make sure Eloen and the others were safe.

  “Sorry lad, the duchess’s orders didn’t say we were only to protect you when you couldn’t protect yourself. So do us all a favor, keep your head down and listen to my orders.”

  Each sound of steel on steel beat at his heart and his fear began to mount. His heart beat sounded like a loud thrumming in his ears. Looking down, he noticed that his hands were shaking. His mind raced, every breath coming out hard and fast as time seemed to slow down around him.

  Soon the men surrounding him were forced away to engage their attackers. The groups of men he could see were all mismatched and gave him the same feeling as the ones who he had fought the previous year in Avael.

  It looked like they were slightly outnumbered three to two, but the duchess’s superiorly trained forces were still winning the day. Thad, still being held behind Harmon, looked around frantically to see any sign of Eloen and his friends. He eventually caught the barest glimpse of Ballard as he cleaved a man clean in two with his magically enchanted broadsword.

  He wanted to go to his friend’s aid, but he didn’t want to put the Captain in danger by distracting him. He decided that he would help where he could. Pointing his stunning ring, he started freezing any enemy he could find. He thought about using fire, but everyone was so entwined there was too large of a chance of friendly fire.

  Seeing two men unchallenged, three enemies charged at him and Harmon. The first two were quickly stopped by Harmon’s superb swordsmanship, but even as skilled as Harmon was, he couldn’t hold all three. Thad pulled his sword from its scabbard and met with the last attacker. The thug came with a sloppy overhead attack that Thad was easily able to swat aside. As the man stumbled past him Thad quickly speared him. The point of his sword easy cut though the man’s thin armor and burst through the man’s chest.

  Kicking hard, Thad shoved the lifeless body off his sword and watched it tumble to the ground. Harmon had already killed one of his attackers and had the other on the defensive. The other man was skilled and his movements left little doubt that he had some sort of training, but he was still no match for Harmon who almost effortlessly worked the man until he found an opening. Harmon made a clean cut across the man’s chest, nearly severing the man down the middle.

  Harmon wasted no time in making his way back to Thad’s side. “Nice work boy.” The burly man said before taking up a vigilant position again.

  Thad stayed by Harmon’s side, using his magic wherever it seemed most needed. His ring quickly ran out of power and Thad was forced to use his own. With his staff in hand there seemed to be little drain so he decided to push it as far as he could go. Focusing his mind he formed illusionary arrows, but added substance to them much the
same way he had done on the horse for Sophia’s amusement.

  Letting lose his magic arrows, they sailed through the air guided by his magic and each found their mark, taking down a handful of combatants. Harmon nodded to him and guarded him as they moved though the makeshift battlefield, slaying anyone who was foolish enough to come within their range.

  Noticing the devastation Thad was causing, many of the attackers turned their attention towards him. It was a foolish move on their part, as the rest of the army moved in on them from the rear. Thad struck them down with magical arrows from the front and the few unlucky enough to get near him were quickly dispatched by Harmon.

  With their advantage in numbers gone, the untrained and disorganized thugs started to fall apart. Many surrendered while others fled. The fighting died down and all that was left was to dispose of the bodies of the dead both friend and foe.

  Looking around at the large number of dead littering the ground, Thad hoped that none of them were of the few people he had grown to know. The memory of the death of the unnamed soldier that had been one of the first to die already tugged at his memory. If he had only taken more time to get to know the young man or had made sure he had one of the magical battle harnesses, he might still be alive. If he had spent more time on his enchantments, maybe even less of the men being buried would be those of the soldiers.

  “Thad!” Eloen screamed as she ran up to him, grabbing his arm. “It’s Darryl, we need your help.”

  Almost in a daze, he allowed Eloen to drag him to where Darryl lay on the ground. He had taken a bad blow to the leg and was bleeding badly. His face had already lost a great deal of color and his eyes were only half open staring blankly into the sky.

  “Can you help him?” Eloen said, her voice expressing far more concern than her face.

  Thad knelt down next to Darryl. The injured soldier turned his head slightly, giving him a crooked smile. “I don’t know.”