Broken Mage

by D. W.

  Taking a hint from Crusher Thad looked around for his next target. It was obvious a lot of the Vathari were hanging out of the battle but Thad didn’t understand why until he began looking around to where they were standing. A group of Vathari warriors were blocking off every exit to the cavern including the hidden one they had come through. They weren’t simply waiting, they were trapping the three until something came. What they were waiting on Thad didn’t know and was more than a little worried to find out. Noticing that he was unchallenged a few of the warriors broke from where they were guarding and engaged him. It was an obvious tactic to keep him busy until something or someone arrived but under the current conditions he had little choice in the matter.

  Shrugging his shoulders Thad lifted his sword and moved to meet the two Vathari that moved toward him. The first warrior raised his sword in a standard attack. Thad knew that the second he bested these two more would come to keep him busy so he decided to play along for awhile. Lifting his sword Thad parried the sword as it came in a downward arc then turned on his lead leg and struck his second attacker with the head of his staff adding a small blast of energy throwing the Vathari to the ground.

  Seeing what had happened to his companion the first Vathari moved back and kept his distance circling Thad and protecting his counterpart. Thad not wanting to waste his momentum pressed the attack alternating strikes with his sword and staff. The two warriors were skilled but they were scared and that showed in every movement. Their movements were hesitant and their eyes stayed focused on the staff that he held in his left hand and they avoided it instead of parrying it when he chose to use it in an attack.

  Thad heard some of the Vathari shouting in the corner and the warriors in front of him redoubled their efforts. None of their attacks were killing blows but merely meant to keep him busy. He had spent hours sparring with the queen’s guard and they had used the same tactic so they could measure his strengths and comment on his weaknesses later. It could only mean one thing that whatever they were waiting on was nearby and they weren’t willing to take any risks with their lives.

  A bad feeling filled his gut so he decided it was time to leave. Thad launched a quick attack with his staff forcing the two warriors to jump back then he hit them with a bolt of lightning sending both of them to the ground. One of them was lucky enough to survive his attack but it didn’t seem as if it had the strength to continue the fight.

  Thad gave out a high whistle grabbing the attention of both Crusher and Avalanche and pointed toward the exit. Avalanche didn’t understand the motion but none the less she bounded away from the Vathari she was playing with and toward the ones who were blocking their way out. Crusher didn’t look too happy but quickly cut down the last one facing him and followed behind Thad as he rushed toward the guarded tunnel.

  There were a least ten Vathari guarding the tunnel and the noise from behind him confirmed that the others were coming to join the fight meaning they didn’t have the time to play around. Stretching his staff toward where Avalanche fought Thad let loose a roaring ball of fire forcing the Vathari to jump aside or risk being burnt to a crisp. Two of the warriors and Avalanche were unable to get out of the way in time and the fireball slammed into them hard. Avalanche looked no worse but the other two weren’t as lucky as they looked as if they had spent hours in a large funeral pyre.

  Thad jumped over the burned men and continued on only hoping that his friends were close behind. Once he was a safe distance away Thad risked a glance over his shoulder to see that Crusher and Avalanche were close on his heels as were a large number of the Vathari warriors.

  Thad stopped in his tracks letting his two friends pass him. Crusher gave him a sideways glance but Thad simply smiled at him, giving him a sly wink as he passed. As soon as they were out of the way Thad let go of a huge torrent of magic that had been building in his staff since he had first started his mad dash for the tunnel. He had little control over the form of the magic as the staff was using him to release the magic in the same way he often used it to direct his.

  A large version of Avalanche filled the tunnel in front of him. It didn’t make noise and a slight aura or purple blazed around it. The Vathari didn’t turn and run until the magical beast reached the first in the line of warriors and they fell to the ground their skin simply torn away wherever the magical creature touched. Noticing the horrible death that faced them, the others broke rank and began trampling each other in order to get out of the tunnel.

  Thad didn’t wait to see how the Vathari faired in their flight but instead took up his own running with all his might to catch up to his companions. It didn’t take long for him to find Crusher and Avalanche who had stopped after a turn in the tunnel to wait for him. Thad was slightly relived as he wasn’t sure that he could find his way through the twisting darkness that was the subterranean real without Crusher’s help.

  The way back to their base was slow as they had to stop and wait frequently for parties of roving Vathari. When they finally got back to their rooms the three friends collapsed and began laughing. It had been a hard fight and strangely entertaining. They hadn’t received any wounds and had taken out a large amount of the Vathari forces. It wasn’t even a scratch on their overall forces if the amount in the halls was any indication but it was still a victory in his eyes.

  As was his ritual after a fight Crusher started cleaning his axe and sharpening its blade. Avalanche didn’t seem to care much for anything other than lounging around. Thad himself was tired with his magical and physical energy spent he decided it was time to take a rest and try and recoup what energy he could.

  CHAPTER XVI

  Thad found himself floating in the darkness again. He knew that his Vatharifriend was probably visiting him again. He wasn’t sure how the Vathari mage was contacting him but he was more than slightly curious on that matter. If he could learn how to do it he might just be able to communicate with the princess and his other friends to see how they were doing.

  “I see you were able to escape before you got to see the surprise today. Such a shame after I went through all the trouble to set it up for you. Sadly we had one of the surprises for you in the cavern but your impressive little magical toys seemed to have gotten him while his guard was down. I must say it was a magnificent use of magic there at the end. Some of the things you humans think up are so astounding. I have read stories in our histories of such things but it is unique to hear and see firsthand accounts.”

  “You were watching the battle?” Thad asked slightly astounded.

  The Vathari let one of its guttural laughs. “Yes, I didn’t see the beginning but once the connection with Fareth was lost I decided to take a peek myself. And we found one of your magical toys to bring back. We had the other but it destroyed itself along with a few of my warriors. I must admit that was brilliant. It has the soldiers carrying the other quite worried it will do the same even after the mage traveling with them has assured them it will not.”

  “So do you have names, if so, would you be so kind as to grace me with yours? It will make it much easier to talk with you.” Thad said trying to hide his anger that they had gotten his other trap. He had completely forgotten about it with everything going on.

  The creature in front of him gave a low bow as a smile spread across his face. “Forgive my rudeness. I must admit in my own arrogance I have forgotten to introduce myself. I am Sae-Thae the chief mage of the Tralath Clan. Now may I have your name?”

  Thad mimicked Sae-Thae’s bow. “I am Thaddeus a humble slave to the Princess of Farlan.”

  “A slave? Have the human mages fallen so far over the years as to become mere slaves?” Sae-Thae said with a bit more humor in his voice than Thad thought was needed.

  “I am the only human mage that I know of. It is a lost art thanks to the Fae War.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth Thad almost cursed himself. He had given the Vathari more information than he had intended.

  “Ah, yes. We have a record of that in our
archives. That war and the Brotherhood devastated many of the weaker non-human races. While we are all for a good battle we have learned there is little to gain from killing off other species. From your ignorance of our kind I’m guessing even the knowledge of the other races has been wiped from your histories.”

  With every sentence Thad’s view of the Vathari changed. At first he had considered them just bloodthirsty killers, but now he had to admit that they simply just seemed to be a society bred to fight. It wasn’t a large difference but there was a difference. Not only were they intelligent they could also reason and seemed to have a vast amount of knowledge at their disposal.

  “Yes, most knowledge of magic and other races has been turned into mere stories of legend. Until recently, I didn’t even know that other races really existed. I must admit it has been quite a shock.”

  “It is a sad event when history is lost, it is something that is hard to regain. Seeing a human mage I had hoped your people had regained its strength. As an award for your skill today in battle I will let you in on a bit of information. The Brotherhood of the Fox is still active. Every so many years they make a foray into the darkness in an attempt to find one of our cities. We kill them off quickly but they are skilled opponents and while they don’t pose a huge threat here in the subterranean, they limit our ability to interact with the surface.”

  Thad was confused at the information. It made sense and would explain why there haven’t been any other mages in the past years. If the Brotherhood still roamed the land extinguishing any hint of magic from the records then everyone would think it was something lost to the world of men forever. What Thad didn’t understand was why Sae-Thae was telling him.

  “It sounds as if you want me to survive.”

  “Oh, but I do young human. If it were in my power I would pull back all the soldiers and let you walk unmolested to the dwarves. The only problem is it is not up to me. If I even hinted at that with the other heads I would soon find myself replaced. I must say you have Telerem mad at how you have torn through his regular soldiers and Luras is still hopeful to get a few of her own troops in the battle.” Sae-Thae said with a look that reminded Thad of when the queen was more talking to herself than those around her.

  “Then maybe you could help me out so that we have a better chance of surviving.” Thad kept his voice calm but he was sure the Vathari sensed his emotional state rather than having to read it from his perceived face.

  Sae-Thae didn’t respond but simply stared at him contemplatively for a few moments. Then the Vathari mage waved his hand and the area changed from swirling darkness into a room that while oddly decorated was somewhat indicative of what he had thought a mage’s room looked like in his imagination.

  The room was well lit,though he wasn’t sure if that was natural of if the Vathari was doing that merely for his benefit. The furniture was all of a unique design and most of it looked as if it had been artfully designed. Everything was made of a dark stone.

  “Now there are things I will be unwilling to aid you with, but I see no problem with helping to make this a bit more interesting. How would you like to start?” Sae-Thae said as he waved for Thad to take a seat across from him.

  Thad scooted the chair back studying the chair. The legs of the chair had been carved to look like the feet of some creature and the back of the chair had an artful design that looked as if an array of weapons had been thrown in a pile. The seat of the chair had been covered with some kind of animal skin. Sitting down Thad found that it was extremely comfortable, something one wouldn’t expect from a chair made of stone.

  “First could we start with how you are doing this?” Thad said as he waived his hand above his head getting a small chuckle from Sae-Thae.

  “You haven’t been checking the magical eye that made its way to our city have you? Enchanting is such a unique art. Did you know that if the same enchantment is made by two different people it will not be the same? Whenever someone enchants an item to respond to magic they are fundamentally implanting a small part of themselves in the core.”

  Sae-Thae stopped for a bit either waiting on Thad to respond or to let the information sink in. Thad wasn’t sure which one so he simply nodded his head and waited for the mage to continue.

  The Vathari made a gesture with his hand and his magical eye appeared in his hand. A small visible line ran from the magical eye to Thad’s chest. “Whenever someone creates such an item there is always a small connection left behind that can be used to trace back to the creator.”

  The fear that crept through Thad’s face must have shown clearly on his face for Sae-Thae’s started laughing. “I wouldn’t worry too much it can’t be used to harm you. Other than allowing me to talk to you in this manner there isn’t much that can be done with it. Even for this I have to use another special enchanted item that cost me dearly to obtain. Now one could use this to locate you but from this distance I can only get a general idea of where you are, but at closer range it can be quite effective. Though seeing as to our current relationship you don’t have worry overly about me giving too much information away. Now your other toy that is being brought back by our troops will most likely be used to that nature by some of my colleagues.”

  “Do the Vathari have many mages?”

  “We are allowed to have two hundred mages at any given time. One head, four arch mages, twenty five master mages, and the rest can be any grouping of the lesser mages. I never understood the titles myself. It is not as if the title enhances or diminishes one’s ability. It only restricts what the access is to our knowledge. There have been many points in our history where a mage that never made it over the title of junior mage was far more accomplished than his brethren but was held back due to simple jealously and lack of political power.” Sae-Thae said his voice slightly annoyed.

  “You are allowed?” Thad asked completely engrossed in the slivers of information he was getting.

  “Ah, I forgot your history has been tampered with. So I shall give you some background information to help you understand us. Thousands of years before the time you call the Fae Wars the Vathari were one people and we had a king who had a vision of conquering all the land. For centuries we bolstered our numbers and began our war. We were bred and trained from birth to fight and soon we held the entire realm under our control. For four hundred years we reined, but there was a flaw in our plan. With the world subjugated, there was no one left to fight to slake our thirst for battle.”

  “At first there were dissenters among the slaves who would challenge us but even that ended over time. After a few centuries of boredom our top generals started to turn on each other. It was a bloody time but we nearly drove ourselves to extinction.” Sae-Thae shook his head derisively.

  “The other races took the chance to band together and force our race into the depths of the earth to hide and lick our wounds. It took decades for us to regain even a semblance of our former strength and in that time we had learned from our mistake. It was agreed that we would limit our numbers, and set conditions for a new settlement to be created. If any group of Vathari went against our laws all of us would rise up together for only as long as it would take to destroy them.”

  “So your own peoples thirst for battle nearly killed off your entire race so now you limit your populations?” Thad asked not fully understanding what Sae-Thae was trying to say.

  “That is a large portion of it, but there are also numerous other Vathari settlements in the subterranean. I couldn’t even guess to the numbers that live within the tunnels. It is possible that our numbers are far greater than what they were in the past, but it is forbidden that any two Vathari settlements to work together. We fight amongst ourselves more often than we fight against the other races. We are forbidden to completely destroy another race but it is fully within our right to destroy any other Vathari we come across.”

  Thad sat and digested what he had learned. It was somewhat amazing that the Vathari had such a history. The humans seldom seemed to
learn from their own history. Just look at his homeland Farlan. They had started a system of government to keep from repeating the failures of the past but over time had forgotten their original goal and had fallen into the habits they had sought to leave behind.

  All the information, were things he wanted to know, but none of it really helped his current situation. As the Vathari went on about their history Thad began to think what information might actually be useful to him. Nothing really came to mind other than where they were the strongest and he doubted the mage would divulge such information.

  “It’s not that I’m not enjoying what I’m learning, and if possible I would like to hear more in the future. But what I really need is information that can help keep me alive long enough to make it back to my own home.” Thad said hesitantly afraid to offend his new friend.

  Sae-Thae stopped speaking and tilted his head slightly with a blank look on his face. “Sorry, I do tend to ramble on, and shortly I will have to take a break. While you’re asleep I am awake and the magical reservoirs of the enchantment will run out far before you wake. There isn’t much I can tell you that will be of use. Our more skilled troops are headed in your direction, along with some of our priests. If you see a warrior with a glowing tattoo be wary and any of the Vathari wearing robes should not be taken lightly that will either be one of our priests or one of my mages. Normally I would feel bad about giving out such knowledge but it has been far too long since they have fought against a mage outside of their own. The dwarves have mages and such but just as our own they are limited on their use of magic.”