Maverick

by Curtis, Greg

  More than that, they had help.

  When he finally let his gaze move on from the hideous ruin, Marjan was able to see at least two hundred and fifty people camped on this side of the castle, waiting for them, more than he’d expected. Maybe a quarter of them were soldiers, all with their own mounts, and by the looks of things they had set up a camp a quarter of a league before the bridge, complete with lookouts and sentries to warn them if the spiders attacked from the castle or the beasts from the woods behind them.

  It was a good camp, but a make shift one, and he couldn’t help but notice that the soldiers had brought no gunpowder weapons with them, no cannon which could be so useful against the black castle and no arbalests which could shred the hunting spiders. They had crossbows, longbows and hand weapons, and no sane man wanted to end up fighting those monsters hand-to-hand. Of course they had one more weapon on their side and it would have to be decisive, him.

  But there were more than just soldiers waiting for them. There were normal people with them, a camp set up under their protection, and that brought him some cheer. Families with children running around, playing. Men and women, the elderly and the sick. Some of them on horse back, some with mules and other pack animals beside them, a few with other animals as well, milking cows, hunting dogs, the occasional bullock and even a few goats.

  The sight filled him with hope. That so many were here, had survived, that was more than he had expected and he was grateful. And if they were here, then more surely were elsewhere, maybe lost in the woods, maybe heading west along the chasm looking for the next pass over it, maybe east along the chasm’s edge, or even on the south road, maybe even far ahead of them. But the sight of them also filled him with dread.

  Intentionally or not they were in the teeth of a trap. Ahead lay danger these people could not face by themselves, while behind them lay an enemy getting ever closer. When the Guild had suggested this route to him, had told him that others were there, waiting, he had known their predicament, and for that reason had brought the party here. They needed a wizard and he had to be it, especially when the guild had some hope that he could do what needed to be done, that he could keep the people safe until a master or two could arrive and clear the path across the bridge. He wasn’t quite so confident, but still their only hope was that the plan that had been worked out between him and the Guild would work. If it didn’t, things could be about to become very dangerous and they would have to flee further west to the next land bridge. But then things were already very dangerous and the alternatives hadn’t been much better, so he hoped he would be able to protect them as they fled. It wasn’t certain that he could though. They would not be fast.

  The attack on Gunder had clearly been terrible, and he could see the injuries among too many of the survivors, the bandages they wore, too many of them blood soaked, and the splints. If they had to flee they would need a lot of help. Still more people had survived the attack than his companions had realised and that was a good thing. It gave him hope that they would be able to settle and make good homes in their new lands, wherever they might be.

  Then again, these weren’t migrants, they were refugees. They had the clothes on their back, a few possessions, whatever food and medicine they could grab, and not much more. The children might be relatively happy, but their parents weren’t so filled with joy, and he could feel the tiredness, the desperation and despair, and not so far behind them the fear, like a physical presence, a cloud covering the sun. And these he had to remember, were the survivors, the lucky ones.

  Most important, he knew that at least a couple of the people waiting for them were wizards. He could feel their magic, not as strong as his perhaps, but still useful, and he looked forwards to speaking with them. It had been a long time since he had had a fellow mage to speak with, to work with, even one who knew his name. Besides, he would need all the help he could get.

  One of them he understood from Yaris was a hedge wizard, a village spellcaster who spent his days helping with the raising of crops and herds, mixing potions and tending to the sick. The other was an apprentice from the Guild itself who had been travelling through the region when the trouble had come upon them.

  Naturally if Yaris had told him of them as he had, he had also surely told them of him, and of what he was, and he worried about the reception he might get from them. It was one thing to be a maverick, and another to be reminded of it by ones peers. Still that was merely another bridge that had to be crossed on their long road to safety.

  “Come along children. I think there may be food waiting us and a comfortable place to sit and enjoy the sun.” They didn’t need much more than that to get them excited and soon he had them skipping, almost running with joy while he and Essaline had to hurry to keep up. The guards he noticed, didn’t come out to meet them, choosing instead to remain at their posts, but still they watched them every step of the way, their hands on their weapons. They were expected but that wasn’t the same as trusted.

  “You would be Mage Marjan and Lady Essaline.” One grizzled veteran with a face that spoke of many battles faced, and some pips on the sleeve of his tattered and smudged uniform that said he was an officer of some sort and probably the one in charge, approached them as they covered the last few yards, and he didn’t look pleased to see them. Then again he wasn’t the sort to look pleased about much Marjan thought, only wary. He was a soldier, and a bitter one. But then he had obviously been in a battle or three, as his chain armour was torn in places, his leathers almost shredded and hastily pulled back together with crude stitching, and he wore a number of bandages down one arm and leg. Close battle, hand to hand with the enemy, and he had not come out of it unscathed. Nor had his men Marjan noticed, as their armour was in a similar state, and too many of them were wounded as well. They had reason to be bitter.

  “We would be, - Captain?”

  The man looked him up and down carefully, assessing his fighting ability and his eyes lingered on his longbow and especially the double axe. He didn’t seem impressed. But if he’d known just how great the enchantments were on the great axe he might have had second thoughts.

  “Captain Wainwright. I was told you were a wizard, not a forester.” Marjan shouldn’t have been surprised by his reaction, after all he’d spent many years trying for just that look, and yet he was. More than that though, he was disappointed.

  “I am a wizard captain, and the strongest here so far. You may be sure of that. And you may also be sure that I will enchant your weapons and armour this afternoon to give you a fighting edge for the battle that’s coming. But for now, if one of your men would show Mistress Essaline and the children to the fires and some food? It has been a long journey for such young children and they are hungry and tired.”

  “And you?”

  “I will go and meet with my fellow spellcasters and discuss what needs to be done.” With no more than that he left the captain and made his way towards the other mages, aware that he was already the last of the party to head for the fires and the food. The children hadn’t waited for the requested guide as they’d made a beeline for the fires and the food, while Essaline was giving chase and trying not to look flustered as she did so, a sight that almost made him laugh though he was not so foolish as to actually let a chuckle loose. He let them go, knowing they were safe and that he had other matters to attend to.

  It didn’t take him long to find his peers. They were sitting by themselves of course, a distance apart from everyone else though whether by their choice or that of the rest he didn’t know, and staring at him as if he was a particularly unusual specimen of wild animal come calling.

  Dimeter was a thin, sour looking apprentice still dressed in his basic black gown even though it had clearly seen better days and could use a wash and the services of a good seamstress. Marjan suspected though that he wouldn’t have willingly removed it even for that, liking the respect such a gown gave him. He was young, surely only sixteen or seventeen, and frightened as well as proud thoug
h he would probably never admit to it, but his talent was clean and his casting pure. One day, if they got through this, he would make a fine mage, though perhaps not such a pleasant one. But then mages weren’t expected to be nice. They were expected to obey the law, advance their skills, and no more.

  Ferris by contrast was an older, somewhat overweight village wizard with a huge grey beard reaching down to his waist and a big friendly smile, dressed in the typical garb of a villager, leggings and a cotton vest, but decked out with some rings and enough jewellery to set him a little apart from his fellows. His talent was subdued compared to both Dimeter’s and his own, quiet and a little confused, and yet for all that Marjan could feel that he had a great affinity for the natural. Though he would no doubt need to practice any of the more complex magic used by Guild mages if he was to fight with it, he would be very good on the more normal duties of a village caster, and that could still be useful for the coming days. He would make an excellent healer, a finder of food and water, and probably a good scout as well.

  “Greetings.” Both of the wizards stared at him with a mixture of surprise and disbelief as he introduced himself, though in Dimeter’s case a good helping of scorn and perhaps even disgust was also present. Certainly he looked as though he’d just stepped in something unpleasant. Whether that was because of his garb or the fact that he was a maverick Marjan didn’t know, and surprisingly he found he didn’t even care. It had been a long time since he had cared about how other wizards saw him, too long to worry about the opinions of student mages. He was what he was and he had found his peace about that at least long since.

  “Renegade Marjan?” Dimeter asked the question with a sneer, and Marjan wondered how someone so young could already be so arrogant. But then perhaps once long ago he had been the same. Filled with the joy of his gift, flattered by the attention the outside world paid him because of it, and always believing that a great future lay ahead for him. Could he really be critical? He ignored the slight and the way that his disapproving eyes looked him up and down. There were more important things to worry about.

  “Just Marjan if you please Dimeter. I may not be a member of the Guild any longer but I am no enemy of it either and I obey the law always. I am not a renegade.” He kept his tone light and calm as he stared the boy directly in the face and then watched as he backed down. This close even an apprentice would know that he was facing someone far stronger, and that to a wizard was important. Some would say that it was the only thing that really mattered. Once he might have said the same, but then once he had been a fool.

  “Now if you could tell me of your defences, and your preparations for what lies ahead.”

  With no more than that he soon had the two of them telling him of all they’d done and what they planned, and he was moderately pleased. They’d done well, enchanting a fair few flat stones and placing them in a semi-circle between them and the edge of the bridge so that if and when the hunting spiders came upon them in numbers as they surely would, they would not get far. Simple enchantments, all they could yet manage, enchanting was a complex magic requiring much practice and skill, but sufficient for the task. Between them and the soldiers also standing guard, they had a good, sound defence. But that would not be enough for when they had to advance on to the bridge and try to get through whatever spider army lay within the castle itself. Fortunately Marjan had a plan for that, a strange and twisted mix of cunning, fire and earth magic that he and the Guild had been working on each evening as they’d spoken. All they needed was the master to arrive soon.

  Naturally the two of them didn’t like it when they heard it, Ferris because it was well beyond his abilities and the enemy was decidedly deadly, so if they failed the price would be high, Dimeter because he was just arrogant and foolish enough to believe he could win a battle against an army of hunting spiders and their immortal queen all by himself. That and the fact that it was a maverick wizard who had come up with it. The young! Fortunately Marjan already had an answer for them.

  “We will discuss our preparations tonight with the Guild and get their approval before we risk a battle. They have chosen to send a master to aid us for the crossing when they have someone to spare, and have asked us to wait for others join us so we can combine our strengths while we wait. In the meantime we need to add to our defences against the spiders. With so many people here, so much food for their queen, and the moon becoming fuller by the night, sooner or later they will attack us in numbers and we have to be ready for that.”

  “You two will continue laying your field of enchanted stones, ringing the entire bridge, I will set to work on enchanting the arrows of the soldiers. With any luck we will soon be ready to face the queen’s armies.” With no more than that he left the two of them to get himself some food, and to let them complain about him behind his back. But as long as they understood his plan and that he was in charge, he didn’t care what they said about him. All that mattered was getting the people to safety, and they had to be ready for whatever came their way, until the promised master arrived to help them with the crossing.

  Besides, it was the guild’s plan as much as his, and he had no doubt they would explain that to their young adept that evening should he cause dissension. In truth he knew even then it wasn’t an ‘if’, it was only a matter of time until Dimeter started making trouble. Best he decided that the guild make contact with him before then.

  ****************

  A horn awoke Marjan from the first proper sleep he had known in many days, but he didn’t curse it. He knew why the horn was being blown the moment he heard it, he’d expected it sooner or later, it was just sooner, and he immediately rose to meet the enemy, as alert as if he’d never slept.

  The hunting spiders were coming out from the castle, heading towards the people whom to them were nothing but food. The queen had launched her assault early, maybe because she had sensed his arrival and didn’t want to wait in case any other wizards showed up, maybe because she simply couldn’t wait any longer with so much food near by and none of it coming to her. Meanwhile the guards had manned their stations and their weapons were drawn, while Captain Wainwright was running up and down the lines yelling instructions as he kept them in their skirmish line and the civilians heading back for the forest. Marjan joined them on the front lines before the first of the spiders had made it too much closer.

  He cast a quick spell of light, sending his magic into an overhead cloud and making it glow like the silvery moon, and then almost wished he hadn’t. They needed light, more than just the rows of torches could provide, as it gave the archers something to aim at, but that light also showed them the enemy, and there was a round of gasps from the civilians as they saw them, before they began running for the safe point. The soldiers were made of sterner stuff, mostly, but even they looked a little horrified.

  The spiders were terrible beasts, worse in the dark of night than even in his imaginings, so many thin, chitinous legs all moving in an unnatural harmony, stingers already raised, mandibles clicking, and hunger in their terrible black eyes, all eight of them running up the sides of the dreadful black heads of each of them, and in the distance they looked like a horde. But they didn’t scare him. Compared to everything else they had faced of late, the spiders were actually something he understood, and besides, a part of him welcomed the attack. The more they killed now the less they would have to face in the morning, and he had every confidence in their defences.

  A flash of light told him when the first of the spiders had reached the enchanted rocks, and he watched as the beast all but disintegrated on the spot under the magical blast. Its legs were blown completely off and Marjan knew it would never pose a danger to them again even if it somehow survived. Ferris and Dimeter, no matter their difficulty working with him or each other, had done good work. But there were many more spiders behind the first, maybe hundreds more, and the battle was far from over.

  More and more of the spiders approached, stepped on the enchanted rocks and explode
d, seemingly unconcerned by watching the same fate befalling those just in front of them, but then they weren’t particularly intelligent. They simply obeyed their queen and she didn’t care how many died as long as enough survived to bring her back her food. He’d counted on that when he’d set their defences and it was good to see at least a part of their preparations working.

  Several minutes later as the surviving spiders started scuttling closer, trampling over the bodies of scores or even hundreds of their kin, and finally passed the hundred pace marker rock he had had placed for the archers to range find, it was the turn of the guards to open fire and he watched with a little pride as his newly enchanted arrows found their mark. Only half the guards had longbows, the rest short bows and crossbows and they would have to wait until the spiders crossed the seventy and fifty pace marks, but there might not be many left by then as the longbow men immediately began taking a heavy toll on the enemy.