Magium: The Mage Tournament: Book 1

by Chris Michael Wilson

  “Wait, so you’re saying that you’re not the one who convinced Illuna to carry out the plan?” Daren asks Flower.

  “No, like I said, she was the one who—” Flower starts to say but then she gasps loudly.

  “Did… Did you just call Petal by her real name?” the girl asks, seemingly in a state of shock.

  “Yeah, I guess…” Daren says.

  “Does that mean you’re friends now?” Flower asks.

  “No!” Daren and Illuna both shout simultaneously.

  “Oh my gods, it’s true!” Flower says. “You really are friends now!”

  “You should have seen them bickering like two lovebirds during our whole trip back!” Arraka says. “It’s like they’re both made for each other!”

  “Wait, your locket’s open?” Flower asks Arraka. “How come your locket’s open? Petal never leaves it open!”

  “Hah!” Arraka says. “That is a thing of the past. Due to my outstanding performance during our last mission, I have been promoted to a full-time member of the group! That means that you all need to listen to my opinions from now on. For example, I think that before going to sleep, we should all hunt a few animals and put their heads on spikes all around our camp in order to ward off invaders!”

  “Don’t push your luck,” Illuna says.

  “Oh gods,” Flower says. “So many things have happened while I was asleep! I can barely keep track of them anymore! Hold on, I need to write this all down!”

  After finishing our conversation with Flower and setting up all of our tents, we all took a little break to eat some food. Since the girl had magical energy to spare after her long nap, she offered to conjure for each of us a dish of our own choosing. I wasn’t particularly hungry, so I just asked for some lemon cakes. Everyone else went all out, however, and asked for the most extravagant dishes that came to their minds, like manticore ribs seasoned with a variety of spices, or griffin wings coated with honey. Everyone except Kate, that is. Given that she hadn’t really had the luxury of ever tasting any food other than the one she’d hunted herself, she simply asked for roasted duck legs and she went to eat by herself on a log a few dozen feet away from our camp.

  After eating my fill of lemon cakes, I went over to Kate’s side, to see how she was doing. I caught her staring blankly at one of the trees in front of her, and she didn’t even notice me until I placed myself right in front of her.

  “Still thinking about Diane?” I ask her.

  Kate looks a bit taken aback by my straightforwardness, but in the end she decides to answer me honestly.

  “Yes…” she says. “She’s been on my mind ever since I woke up in those ruins, but I’ve been trying my best to not let it show, given the situation we were in.”

  “Here,” I tell her. “Have some lemon cakes. I’ve already eaten my fill!”

  “Thanks…” she says, as she accepts my offer.

  “You know…” I say. “After you guys fell unconscious due to Diane’s attack, I managed to stay awake for a little while longer, because of my higher resistance to electricity.”

  When she hears my words, Kate raises her head and starts watching me intently.

  “I saw the lessathi she was working with,” I continue. “They both wanted to have us killed, but your friend stood up to them. She said she’d kill them if they laid a finger on either of us. She’s the reason why we’re still alive right now.”

  Kate laughs.

  “And also the reason why we’ve almost been killed by a fox goddess and by a fort full of ogres in the past few days,” she says. “I get why you’re telling me this, and I am grateful for your concern, but I already suspected that what she said and did was her way of trying to look out for me. That, however, still does not excuse her behavior and the way she put us all in even greater danger through her actions. She’s always been like this. She would not think twice before doing what she thought was right, but that would often only result in her making things even worse than they were before. I swear I’m going to give her one hell of a beating when I see her again.”

  “Does that mean that you’re still going to participate in the tournament?” I say.

  “Yes, I…”

  She pauses.

  “I no longer have any leads on Diane’s whereabouts,” Kate says. “And if the organizers eventually announce some objectives, I’ll have to at least try and complete their tasks, to avoid getting disqualified for lack of participation. Until then, I was thinking of sticking around with you guys. That is to say, if…”

  She pauses again.

  “…If you’ll have me…” she continues.

  “Of course we’ll have you, Kate!” I say. “I know that Daren has been acting a little strange lately, but trust me when I say that—”

  I pause mid-sentence because I see that Daren is now heading towards us, with a very uncomfortable look on his face.

  “Speaking of the devil…” I tell Kate, in a low voice.

  “Listen…” Daren says, looking at Kate, when he gets closer. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while, but I couldn’t really find the right moment.”

  “Oh gods, you’re not going to propose to me, are you?” Kate says.

  “Damn it, no!” Daren shouts, but then he immediately tries to regain his composure. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just that… lately I haven’t really talked to you. Actually, I haven’t even spoken a word to you for days.”

  “Really?” Kate says, looking genuinely surprised. “I never noticed.”

  Daren looks like he’s about to lose his cool again, but this time he manages to reign in his emotions.

  “I stopped talking to you right after Azarius told us that you were an artificial mage,” he says. “I was just so convinced that you were a banshee from the very beginning, and after I heard what he said I…”

  He pauses.

  “I was wrong,” he says, after a while, deciding not to continue his previous sentence. “Even if on the surface I was acting like your friend, in reality I never let my guard down around you, and I was expecting you to betray us and turn into a monster at any moment. And to make matters worse, after learning the truth, instead of trying to make amends, I spent my time sulking like some four-year-old who’d dropped his candy bar in a sewer. I realize that it is way beyond late now, but I couldn’t just let things go on like this forever. The reason why I came here to you tonight is that I wanted to… apologize.”

  It looked like it took every ounce of his strength to utter that last word. I don’t think I’ve seen him this tense even when we were battling the hydra in the lessathi ruins.

  “I’m sorry, what was that?” Kate says. “You’ll have to repeat that last word you said, because I could barely hear it.”

  “Damn it, woman!” Daren snaps. “You know very well what I said. Don’t make me repeat it! Now, do you accept my apology or not?!”

  Immediately after Daren finishes his sentence, Kate starts to laugh. But her laughter is sounding much more natural than ever before. When he first heard her, Daren looked as if he were about to blow a fuse again, but then he realized that there was no hint of malice in Kate’s laughter, so he eventually calmed down.

  “I’m sorry,” Kate says, as she struggles to contain her laughter. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to mock you. It’s just that I didn’t think that this would be the kind of thing that could trouble you so much. Of course I accept your apology! I was being honest when I said that I never noticed you ignoring me all this time. The two of us never really talked all that much, so none of this seemed strange to me. But I really appreciate you coming out to me like this. Thank you! This made me feel a lot better!”

  She smiles.

  “I’m not sure what this is all about,” we hear Hadrik’s voice coming from behind Daren, “but I’m willing to bet that this would be the best moment to finally hold that victory celebration!”

  He then places five bottles of dwarven ale on the ground and grins at
us.

  “I suppose so,” Kate says, smiling.

  “Hold on,” Daren says. “Our collars might have been removed, but we’re still in dangerous territory here. What if we are attacked by some mages or monsters after we have our little party? Who’s going to defend us from our enemies if we’re all plastered?”

  “There’s no need to worry about that!” Rose says, as she approaches us, holding a small pouch in her left hand. “These leaves I have in my bag are a natural remedy for drunken stupors. You just need to chew on them for half a minute, and all dizziness will be gone in a flash, without even having to worry about a hangover afterwards!”

  “Perfect!” the dwarf says. “Then there’s no need for us to hold back! I’ll go bring more bottles!”

  “Ooooh, is that dwarven ale?” Flower says, as she sees the five bottles lying on the ground. “I’ve always wanted to try dwarven ale!”

  “No ale for you, young lady,” Hadrik says. “Little kids should not be drinking alcoholic beverages of any kind. It’s not good for you.”

  “But I’m not a little kid!” Flower shouts. “I’m thirty years old!”

  “You may be thirty years old, but your alcohol tolerance is that of a nine year old,” Illuna says. “You can barely even stand on your feet after drinking a glass of wine.”

  “Petal, you’re not helping!” Flower says, as the rest of us start to laugh. “You’re not helping at all!”

  After the long overdue celebration was finally over, we each went to sleep in our respective tents, except for Hadrik and Daren, who took the first shift. For those few hours while we drank together, it felt hard to believe that we’d been risking our lives fighting ogres just one day prior. It almost felt like I was back at home, spending a night out in a tavern with some friends, far away from all the madness of this tournament. It was nice to have a night like this for a change. And who knows? Maybe the worst is all behind us, and every night from now on will be like this as well. A man is allowed to dream, right?

  With these final thoughts, I put my head on the pillow, and I awoke the next morning, feeling completely refreshed. This time around I got the lucky draw, and I didn’t need to take any shifts, which was a nice change of pace from all the sleepless nights I’ve been having lately. Since we didn’t have a fixed time limit anymore, we all decided to sleep in today, so it was already ten o’clock in the morning by the time I got out of my tent. Taking a look around the camp, it seemed that everyone else had already gotten up for some time, and they were just about to finish their breakfast.

  “He awakens at last!” Daren says, as he sees me get out of my tent. “Did you enjoy your ten hours of uninterrupted sleep, Barry? It’s too bad you missed breakfast, though. Flower really outdid herself this time, too! Her food making skills are simply divine. But don’t worry, I’m sure we can still scrounge up some cold leftovers for you to eat if you’re really hungry!”

  “I see it didn’t take you long to turn into an ass again,” I say. “Whatever happened to that apology you gave me the other night?”

  “Hey now, let’s not get things mixed up, here!” Daren says. “What I apologized for was being more of an ass than usual. I’d say that my attitude right now is well within the boundaries of my regular day to day assholeness!”

  “Point taken,” I tell him as I take out some dry meat and an apple out of my backpack and start to eat.

  “Barry, why didn’t you tell me you woke up?” Flower calls out to me, disappointed, as she sees me finishing my meal. “I was waiting for you before making your breakfast so it wouldn’t get cold!”

  “Yeah, well Daren ‘forgot’ to mention that you were still taking orders,” I say. “Don’t sweat it, I wasn’t really all that hungry anyway.”

  “Awww, but I was going to surprise you with a traditional dish from your homeland,” Flower says.

  “Traditional?” I ask.

  “Yes, I was going to make quail eggs with ham and Bagelberry cheese,” Flower says.

  “That’s… less of a traditional dish from the Western Continent,” I say, “and more of a select meal eaten by only a handful of nobles on our continent. The rest of us usually just eat whatever we have lying around the pantry for breakfast.”

  “Huh,” Flower says. “Well, the more you know…”

  After everyone is done eating, we decide to hold a meeting and establish what our plans are, now that we’re finally free of our collars.

  “The three of us had already promised Rose that we’d escort her safely to her hometown,” Daren says, as he points towards me and Kate, “so that’s where we’re headed right now. Hadrik, Flower, you have no obligations to keep travelling with us, so we can part ways here if you want.”

  “Actually, travelling with this group has provided me with the most fun I’ve had in years,” Hadrik says. “The objectives of the tournament still haven’t been announced, so I don’t really have anything specific to do until then. If it’s all the same to you, then I’d rather tag along!”

  “How about you, Flower?” Kate says.

  “Well…” Flower says, looking a little hesitant. “I wouldn’t want to be a bother to anyone…”

  “What, are you kidding me?” Hadrik says. “You can spit fire, jump on walls and make food out of nothing! Who would be crazy enough to not want you in their group?”

  “Nobody here would ever turn you away after how much you’ve helped us, Flower,” Rose says. “And don’t you even for a second think that you could ever be a bother to us. The question here is what you want to do. Would you like to keep travelling with us?”

  “Yes!” Flower says, beaming. “I would love to!”

  “And Illuna?” Kate asks. “How does she feel about all of this?”

  All of our eyes are fixed upon the girl, as her own eyes turn bright blue, and Illuna starts looking around her nervously.

  “I guess it… wouldn’t hurt us too much to accompany you for a while longer…” she says.

  “It’s settled, then!” Daren says. “Pack your bags, we’re leaving in half an hour.”

  “Now, hold on there!” Arraka says, loudly. “Is nobody going to ask me how I feel about all of this? What if I told you that I am deeply unsatisfied with this group’s abysmal kill per hour ratio and that I’d only consider continuing our collaboration if you promise to work on improving it, huh? What then?”

  We all stare at Arraka’s amulet for a few seconds, until Hadrik decides to break the silence.

  “Alright, then!” he says. “It’s time for us to start dismantling our tents. Meet you all back here in thirty minutes!”

  “Hey!” Arraka shouts, as we all start heading towards our tents. “Hey! Don’t you dare ignore me! Do you hear me? Come back here! I’m not done complaining yet!”

  It takes me a while, but after I’m done with my tent and my backpack, I head back towards our meeting spot, where everyone except Kate seems to have already arrived. As I get closer, I see that Flower is currently spinning Arraka’s amulet by the chain with a displeased expression on her face.

  “This chain is starting to get old,” she says. “We’ll have to get a new one the next time we’re in a city.”

  “That’s great!” Arraka shouts. “Now, if you’re done testing the chain’s durability, maybe you could stop with the spinning?!”

  “Oh right, sorry,” Flower says, as she grabs the amulet and puts it back around her neck. “I forgot you had motion sickness.”

  “Wait, seriously?” Hadrik asks, with a laugh. “The almighty invincible banshee can’t handle a little spinning?”

  “It’s because she’s trapped in the amulet,” Illuna says. “It’s messing with her senses. She didn’t have any problems like this when she was possessing animal bodies.”

  “Oh good, Kate’s here,” Daren says, as he sees Kate approaching us. “I guess we should be good to go, then.”

  “Where are we headed, exactly?” Hadrik asks.

  “The city of Thilias,” Rose says. �
�It’s a small harbor town near the southern coast. It’s lovely this time of year!”

  “Okay, I’m here,” Kate says, as she joins the rest of us. “Let’s get going.”

  “Wait!” Flower says loudly, all of a sudden. “I just remembered something. The plates! I forgot to wash the plates.”

  “Who cares about the plates?” Daren asks. “Can’t you just conjure new ones out of nowhere like you do with the food?”

  “Yeah, but it would be a waste to just leave them here,” Flower says. “They sell for a pretty good price on the market. This won’t take long, I promise. I’ll just pick them up quick and wash them in the river. I’ll be right back!”

  “You know, I’ve always wondered about something,” Hadrik tells Daren, as Flower rushes past him. “If they call you guys white mages, then shouldn’t necromancers be called black mages? You know, to keep the theme going?”

  “Actually, that’s a common misconception,” Daren says. “This has nothing to do with warriors of the light fighting the forces of darkness. The only reason why white mages are called like that is because of the bright light that appears when they cast most of their spells. It’s not really an official name, but I guess it kind of stuck. Some white mages with a stick up their arse sometimes even get offended when they’re called like that, and they—”

  Daren stops talking, because a familiar figure just appeared out of thin air in front of him. A boy with his eyes closed, his hands in his pockets and a polite smile on his face.

  “Greetings, friends!” Eiden says. “I come bearing news!”

  “Eiden…” Daren says, with a frown.

  “Now, now,” Eiden says. “There’s no need to be so hostile! I only came to help!”

  “Wait, how did you find us?” I ask him.

  “By tracing your auras, of course!” Eiden says. “I just finished my business on the other side of the island, and I thought I’d pop by to visit.”

  “How could you possibly have identified us just by our auras from that far away?” I say.

  “Our auras are much more complex than you may think, Barry,” Eiden says. “Most people only use them to learn of a person’s magical prowess, and maybe to understand their basic emotional state, but a person’s aura is capable of showing us much more than that. With enough practice, you will see that each person’s aura is unique, and it can be used to track them down from a great distance, if your magical sense is sharp enough. Mine happens to cover the whole island of Varathia.”