The force pushing Daren against the ground intensifies so much that it makes a large Daren shaped hole in the hard rock soil beneath him. Daren can no longer hold back the pain, and he starts screaming in agony.
I realize my hands have gone cold and my whole body is shaking. I need to pull myself back together. If I screw this up, we’ll all get slaughtered.
“Let him go!” I tell Eiden, trying to sound as confident as possible.
“You want to save your friend, Barry?” Eiden says. “Then how about we make it an even trade? Your life for his. I promise I’ll leave your friend alone if you give your life for him. What do you say?”
A cold shiver passes throughout my whole body as the stillwater’s words reach my ears. He is not joking. If I accept his trade now, he will kill me without hesitation. But if I don’t accept it, Daren is going to die… No, no, no, I can’t think like this. I can’t let him get to me. He is just toying with us as if we were nothing more than ants to him, and he doesn’t even care about— Wait! That’s it! That’s the answer! I know what I need to say to him to let us go.
“How about another trade?” I ask Eiden.
The stillwater raises his eyebrows, with his eyes still closed. This was not the answer he was expecting to hear from me.
“What do you have in mind?” he says.
“When we first met,” I say, “you said you were looking for some friends. If you let us live, we could deliver a message for you, in case we find these friends of yours before you do.”
“So you’re saying your friend’s life is only worth delivering a message?” Eiden says.
“It is to you,” I say. “I think you’ve already made it abundantly clear that human life holds no value to you. That means it should be all the same to you if you let us live or not. But if you let us live, you will get your message delivered. How’s that for an even trade?”
Eiden laughs, and the force pushing Daren against the ground gets weaker.
“When you put it like that, I suppose you have a point,” Eiden says. “Very well, then. Your lives for a message. “
He stops for a bit to think, before he continues.
“The friends I’m looking for always wear dark blue robes,” he says, “and on their chests they should have brooches that picture a hawk holding the sun in its talons. If you’re to meet any people that fit this description, just tell them Eiden sends them this message: Remember the still winter.”
“…And, if they ask me what that means?” I say.
“They won’t,” Eiden says. “No matter who you meet, as long as they fit the description I gave you, they’ll understand the message perfectly.”
“Uh… Okay, then,” I say. “Consider it done.”
“Perfect,” Eiden says.
He then releases Daren from his spell and turns to leave.
“I won’t… let you leave this place,” Daren says, as he slowly gets back up.
“Surely, you must be kidding,” Eiden tells him.
“If… I let you go now,” Daren says, “you’ll only hurt more innocent people. I’ll stop you, no matter the cost.”
“See, now that puts me in a difficult position,” Eiden says, “since I already made an even trade with Barry over there. I can’t just kill you now, since it would violate the terms of our trade agreement.”
“Silence!” Daren shouts.
He then rushes towards the stillwater and slashes fiercely at his neck. Eiden dodges effortlessly, and Daren quickly goes for a second strike, this time meant to cut him in half. Eiden steps casually to the side, making it look like child’s play. After a few more wasted strikes on Daren’s part, just when it looks as though he might have caught the stillwater on the wrong foot, Eiden simply puts his bare hand in front of his face, and he stops the full blow of the sword with only his index finger.
“No…” Daren says, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I tire of this,” Eiden says, as he makes a gesture with his other hand.
In less than a second, Daren drops to the ground like a log, his armor making a loud clank as it hits the rocky soil below.
“No!” I shout.
“I only put him to sleep,” the stillwater says. “He’ll wake up in a few minutes.”
He turns to leave.
“Oh, and don’t worry about looking for my friends,” Eiden says. “I’m sure you’ll be meeting them soon enough.”
He smiles again, and then he heads towards the woods.
“Daren, can you hear me?” I say. “Wake up!”
There’s no answer. Just what kind of spell did this guy use? I’m pretty sure that Daren has some really strong spells protecting him at all times. Standard sleep spells should be no more than a moderate inconvenience for him.
While I try to wake Daren up, I suddenly hear a very familiar voice coming from the direction in which Eiden disappeared.
“Stillwater!” the voice shouts.
That’s Cutthroat Dave’s voice. No doubt about it. I’d recognize that hoarse voice and that thuggish accent anywhere.
I turn around towards where the voice came from, but there are only trees. Why would Cutthroat Dave shout for me before even getting the chance to get a clear shot of my face?
Then it hits me. He never got to see my face. I was hiding behind a tree the whole time. I rush towards the woods to confirm my suspicions. I hide behind one of the trees and take a peek.
Just as I thought, Cutthroat Dave has mistaken Eiden for me, and he’s looking for revenge. He’s managed to assemble a team in the short time we were apart, and they all have the stillwater surrounded. The sad part is that Dave looks like a well-bred gentleman compared to his new colleagues. Some of them look and smell like they haven’t washed for months. I guess birds of a feather really do flock together.
“I’ve been looking for you, stillwater,” Dave says. “I’ve been tracking your footsteps since yesterday. I told you we’d meet again. No one can run or hide from Cutthroat Dave.”
“I’m afraid you are mistaken, my good man,” Eiden says, smiling. “I am quite sure I’ve never seen you before in my life.”
“Aye,” Cutthroat Dave says. “I am sure of that too. You’d have needed to open your eyes in order to see me.”
All of Cutthroat Dave’s men suddenly burst into laughter at the same time. They’re laughing loudly and vulgarly, probably in an attempt to intimidate their victim, just like a group of school bullies. Eiden’s expression does not change, and he continues to smile pleasantly.
“Don’t think you can fool me by changing your voice a little,” Dave says. “I’m too smart for that. I’d recognize that arrogant tone of yours anywhere. Where’s your healer friend? Did he leave you here to rot after you saved his skin?”
“Are you perhaps speaking of the healer in armor?” Eiden says. “If that’s the case, then he’s right there, past these trees.”
“Hah!” Dave says. “Nice try, stillwater. That intimidating trick of yours ain’t gonna work on me twice in a row.”
He then turns towards his esteemed colleagues.
“Men!” Dave shouts. “Ready your swords. Pull out your knives. This is what we came here for. Today, we write our names in history. Today, we become legends!”
Cutthroat Dave’s men all give out a roar as they raise their hands holding their weapons in the air. Eiden’s smile has widened. His expression is similar to what it was before he smashed Daren into the ground. He’s enjoying this. They’re going to get massacred.
Cutthroat Dave begins the battle by sending a few flying knives towards the stillwater. Just as they reach Eiden, they all stop in mid-air in front of him. Eiden smirks, and he points towards the cutthroat. All of the knives unconditionally obey their new master, and they head towards Dave at breathtaking speed. He manages to parry them in the nick of time with his own flying knives, but he looks dumbstruck.
“What kind of sorcery is this?” Dave says.
“The magic kind, of course,” th
e stillwater answers him. “See, this is a tournament for mages. Circus auditions were being held across the street.”
Dave’s face contorts into a snarl.
“We’ll see how funny you are with some holes in your skull, you cheeky bastard,” he says. “Men, teach this little upstart a lesson.”
All of Cutthroat Dave’s men jump at Eiden, but he disappears right from under their noses and appears in front of Dave with a grin on his face, though his eyes remain shut.
“Sending your men to do your dirty work, Dave?” Eiden says. “I thought you were going to become a legend! Why are you hesitating?”
Dave pulls out a knife from his belt and slashes at Eiden’s neck.
“Shut your smart-arse mouth and fight you little shi—” Dave shouts, but he does not get to finish his sentence.
Before the thug gets the time to react, Eiden puts his palm on Dave’s face, making his head explode in a thousand pieces. Cutthroat Dave’s life ended just like that, without even having the time to realize he was dead.
Blinded by rage, Dave’s loyal followers rush screaming towards Eiden, with their weapons at the ready. They don’t get too far, though. With a snap of his fingers, the stillwater makes a huge pillar of fire appear in front of him, which incinerates all of the thugs to a point where not even their bones are left intact. The fire completely ignores all of the trees around it, and Eiden simply puts it out with another snap of his fingers.
I expected this to be quick, but this outcome far exceeded my expectations. The stillwater can even cast fire magic as if he were a fire elementalist. Just what in the hell are we supposed to do to fight this guy?
Eiden turns towards me. I suddenly remember that he relies primarily on his magical sense and not on his eyesight in order to assess his surroundings. He must have sensed my presence ever since before the beginning of the battle.
“Did you enjoy the show, Barry?” he asks me. His smile is gone from his face.
“It was quite the spectacle,” I reply to him.
“That it was,” Eiden says. “It would appear that the cutthroat had mistaken me for another stillwater. One who was associating with a healer. Quite an unfortunate misunderstanding. You wouldn’t happen to know who they were looking for, would you Barry?”
“I think you already have the answer to that question,” I say.
“I do, indeed,” Eiden says. “Tell me, Barry… How did you come to the conclusion that using me to clean up your mess would be a good idea?”
“Well,” I say, “I figured you wouldn’t have any trouble dealing with those lowly thugs. And you seemed to enjoy it well enough. Otherwise you would have simply cut down the tree I was hiding behind in order to reveal me to the cutthroats.”
“Fascinating,” Eiden says. “You really appear to have no sense of crisis. Allow me to help you in that regard.”
As he finishes his sentence, I start feeling something pressing against my throat. It feels like an invisible rope is tied around my neck, and it is slowly lifting me above the ground. It’s not just my imagination. I really am being lifted higher and higher above the ground. It’s getting a lot harder to breathe as the invisible noose gets tighter around my neck. I try to take the noose off with my hands, but there’s nothing there. If this goes on much longer, I’m seriously going to die.
Once I get several feet above the ground, the invisible noose suddenly disappears, and I fall on the rocky soil, dropping to my knees. I could hear a loud crack as I hit the ground. I’m pretty sure that the fall broke both my kneecaps. The pain of it is excruciating.
“Now that I have your attention,” the stillwater continues, “I want you to understand something. If you try something like that again, broken kneecaps are going to be the least of your worries. Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” I say.
Eiden’s smile comes back to his face.
“That’s what I like about you, Barry,” Eiden says. “Even in the face of utter annihilation, you manage to maintain your defiant, sarcastic tone. But you are neither strong, nor brave. So what is it, then? What is the driving force that propels you forward?”
“Stupidity,” I say.
“Well said!” Eiden says, smiling. “I think your healer should have woken up from his slumber by now. Go ahead and call him. I’m sure he’s fixed more than a few broken kneecaps in his lifetime. I’ll be waiting for you to deliver my message. Do not fail me, Barry.”
With these last words, the stillwater turns his back to me and then heads deeper into the woods.
Chapter 5
“Daren!” I shout. “Daren, can you hear me?”
“Barry?” Daren says. “Wait right there! I’m coming for you!”
Well, it’s not like I’m going anywhere. My knees still hurt like hell. I’ve barely even budged from my original position to avoid more pain. Eiden sure did a number on me.
“Barry!” Daren shouts, when he sees me. “What happened?”
“Oh, not much,” I say. “Just a little parting gift from our mutual friend.”
“Eiden!” Daren says, while clenching his fist.
He casts a healing spell on me and I suddenly get enveloped in a warm, soothing light. The pain leaves me completely, and I manage to get back on my feet with no difficulty. I always knew there were healing spells like this, but witnessing one of them first hand is something else. Most healers I’ve met in my lifetime could barely even heal light bruises or ankle sprains.
“Where’s the stillwater?” Daren asks.
“Gone,” I say. “I just saw him kill Cutthroat Dave along with a whole crew of henchmen. Turns out he can cast fire magic, combustive magic and teleportation without even breaking a sweat. Eiden got upset because Cutthroat Dave mistook him for me, and I took advantage of the situation.”
“Hah!” Daren says. “Serves him right! But how did I end up unconscious on the ground?”
“You mean you don’t remember?” I say. “He just waved his hand casually and put you to sleep.”
“What?…” Daren says. “That can’t be right. I have so much protection against sleep spells that I should be almost immune. At the very least I should be able to keep my consciousness! And what was that about him using fire magic? I’m pretty sure he used air magic on me when we first met him. Normally it takes a lifetime to master even a single element!”
“Maybe he’s older than he looks?” I say.
Daren pauses a bit to ponder on my question.
“You might be onto something there, Barry,” Daren tells me. “When I fought him, he could anticipate every one of my moves, and he didn’t even bother to use magic to avoid my first few strikes. Most battle hardened warriors would have had a hard time dodging even the first slash of my sword. I’m not really sure how we could figure out what his real age is, however.”
“Maybe we could ask him?” I say.
“Ask him?” Daren says. “Have you lost your senses?”
“Why do you say that?” I say. “It’s not like he has any reason to hide his real age from us. And he doesn’t seem to have a problem with switching between attempted murder and casual conversation.”
“Sometimes I wonder about you, Barry…” Daren says.
“At any rate, I think we should wake up Kate,” I say. “She needs to hear what happened, and we could use another strategy meeting right about now.”
The two of us head for our cave, and we proceed to wake Kate from her slumber. Once she’s up, we start filling her in on all that’s happened since Eiden showed up.
After we’re done talking, Kate takes a few moments to reflect on our words.
“So, let me see if I got this right…” she says. “Barry, you traded our lives for one message.”
“Right,” I say.
“And we need to deliver this message,” Kate says, “to any robed men we might encounter that wear a brooch with a picture of a hawk holding the sun in its talons.”
“Yeah,” I say. “Does that description tell you anyt
hing?”
“Yes…” she says, and then almost immediately looks towards the ground.
She’s hiding something again. I just know it.
“They’re an underground group,” she continues. “Most of the time they don’t really show themselves in public. Nobody knows exactly who they are, or what they do. Most people don’t even know they exist. But there are rumors that they are being backed by the kings of Varathia.”
“They’re being backed by the kings?” Daren asks. “What would Eiden want with these hotshots? You simply have to tell them to remember the still winter, right? I wonder what that’s supposed to mean?”
“It sounds like a threat to me,” I say. “It would most certainly fit Eiden’s way of doing things as we’ve seen it so far. He sends us to fight his enemies, and then he has a good laugh about it afterwards.”
Kate nods.
“I agree,” she says. “He wouldn’t have left us alive just to send a message to some old friends. A veiled threat to some old enemies, on the other hand seems much more likely. I’m not sure what the still winter is, exactly, but I’m willing to bet that we’ll get attacked the moment after we’ve finished saying the words.”
“So,” I say, “we either fight a whole underground group backed up by this continent’s royalty, or we fight a crazy overpowered maniac who can evaporate us in the blink of an eye. The good news is that there’s no time limit. If we could just manage to avoid meeting these robed gentlemen until the end of the tournament, we could be in the clear!”
“Now hold on, there,” Daren says. “There’s no reason to assume that the message is a threat just from the phrase’s wording. Besides, I think that what’s more important right now is to figure out a way to beat Eiden, not talk about his message!”
“And how do you suggest we do that, exactly?” Kate says. “It only took him half a second to put you to sleep, and I’m pretty sure that your protections are better than mine in that department. That alone would be enough to take us all out, but I hear he has a whole arsenal of other spells in his pocket.”
“So, what?” Daren says. “Does that mean we should all just bow down to him now and become his lackeys?”
Magium: The Mage Tournament: Book 1 Page 6