“Dammit, Kellen, what secrets does Baj hold that is worth your life?”
“None, but once that is known your masters would kill me. Baj has no weaknesses that I know of or it would have been remedied. The one fault that Byrn exploited will not work a second time. The sewers are probably covered in runes by now and heavily patrolled.” A small thought tickled at the back of Kellen’s consciousness, but he pushed it away. Tomlin would help him. “Nothing short of an army with massive siege weapons could hope to get in and any magic users that somehow made it into the prison would be robbed of their powers in a matter of minutes.”
“Then what are you holding back? I can tell there is some secret you are protecting,” the bard asked sounding genuinely surprised.
“Byrn- he is a prince.”
Tomlin was rarely at a loss for words, but the revelation of Byrn’s heritage left him struck dumb. Finally, he asked, “Why wouldn’t Byrn say anything about this?” It was only the first of several questions that came to the bard’s mind.
“Who knows?” Kellen shrugged, growing agitated. “Maybe his father didn’t trust him enough to tell him the truth when he made Byrn a free magician.” He scratched the back of his head banishing a minor itch.
“I hate to break it to you, but that is not much of a secret. Even if Byrn was a prince, which sounds ludicrous by the way, he isn’t acknowledged. It would be a meaningless title.”
Kellen smiled knowingly, “You are far removed from the world of politics. In the right hands such knowledge could be very dangerous.” He began to scratch his head again and looked around for bugs. The dungeon was decidedly well maintained making a bug infestation seem unlikely, but what else could be causing that infernal itch?
“Are you feeling alright?” Tomlin asked, but Kellen ignored him.
Snap out of it, you fool! He is using you! A familiar voice shouted in Kellen’s head.
Stark clarity washed over Kellen like a fog lifting before him. Tomlin’s spell was so subtle that the knight never thought to raise his guard against it. The bard must have woven the spell into his song to enchant Kellen making him feel at ease and willing to talk, but even in his unguarded state there was a piece of the knight’s mind that resisted the magic. It had tried to warn him, but he failed to heed it until it was too late.
A gasp of pain let loose from Kellen’s lips as he fell forward clutching the bars as he struggled to stand. Tomlin grabbed at Kellen through the bars and tried to lift the large man to his feet. “Come on, old man, to your feet,” Tomlin grunted.
The Kenzai master’s fist flashed with a bright blue light as he seized Tomlin’s shirt and pulled him against the bars roughly. Now it was Tomlin’s turn to gasp as he felt his magical essence drained from his body in a matter of seconds. Kellen ripped the cell key ring from the bard’s pocket and released the teenager long enough to get his cage open. A stunned Tomlin made no attempt to escape and was tossed into the cell in Kellen’s place before he knew what had happened, but Kellen did not close the cage just yet.
“Where is my armor?” demanded the knight; his voice boomed with threat and authority.
“How did you-?“ Tomlin stammered feeling something he had not experienced in years. Fear.
Kellen bent down and gripped Tomlin by the throat. “My armor,” he repeated.
“Alia’s study,” Tomlin choked out the words under the big man’s grip, “Up the stairs, two side hallways down on the left.”
“If you are lying-,” Kellen threatened.
“I’m not,” Tomlin’s eyes pleaded for mercy.
Kellen released his stranglehold and Tomlin fell to the floor gasping for air. The cell door slammed shut trapping the powerless enchanter. The bard tried to call out for help, but his throat was too sore to produce anything above a whisper. The Kenzai master took no notice as he ascended the stairway leading to the castle’s main hall. He must get his armor back if he was to have any chance of escaping this estate overrun with renegade magicians and finding his way back to civilization.
First solve one problem before worrying about another, he reminded himself. Find your armor, and then worry about how you’re going to escape.
Kellen paused at the wooden door at the top of the stone stairway. Beyond this door dozens of magicians could be lying in wait… or it could be empty. “Only one way to find,” Kellen murmured as he pushed open the door with one hand balling the other in fist that glowed brightly with Tomlin’s stored magical essence in anticipation of an ambush. Instead he found an empty albeit large hall. At the right end there stood a large pair of oak doors that likely led to a reception hall or throne room. To the left the hall continued farther down out of view that would likely lead outside and was honeycombed with smaller corridors on either side.
Silently, the warrior entered the main hall, but stayed near the wall as he moved in the direction of Alia’s study. He moved as quickly as he safely could without making any noise and only stopping when he was behind support columns to listen for the footfalls of approaching magicians. In this way Kellen traversed the hall until he reached the path Tomlin had indicated. It was on the opposite side of the hall. Hearing no one coming, Kellen dashed across the open area between the columns coming to a halt only once he reached the opposite end.
Kellen stepped out from behind the support column, but immediately slipped back into the shadows when he heard the shuffling of footsteps behind him. The warrior sighed in relief briefly when he saw four brown-robed men entering the main hall from one of the other corridors. Early apprentices who had yet to identify their dominant school of magic traditionally wore brown robes. For a master of the Kenzai Order like Kellen this group would pose no threat to him as long as they did not raise an alarm and bring the wrath of the masters down on him.
“Did you see that little rock golem that Master Byrn made?” asked one of the brown-robes excitedly, “I heard it was following him around like a little pup and doing tricks!”
Another brown-robe laughed, “Do not be foolish! It was just lifeless rock. Master Byrn was animating it as a joke making it act like a pet.”
The quartet continued down another hall taking no notice of Kellen crouched in a corner.
“Still it was impressive,” replied the first amicably as they wandered out of earshot.
Alia’s study was not far down the hall and Kellen ran into no more of the castle’s magical residents. He tried the door carefully and found it unlocked. The door opened slowly and Kellen popped his head in to find the study empty. “Were they trying to make the Collective appear larger than they really are?” he wondered aloud.
Scouring the study Kellen found his armor sitting on a long table surrounded by various other items, mostly jewelry and rings of a magical nature that could be easily carried around. His warhammer was propped up in a corner.
The knight put on his padded clothing followed by his shiny plate armor and strapped the warhammer to his back. The plate fit like a second skin and for the first time in weeks he felt whole again. Kellen allowed the magical armor to absorb the energy he had taken from Tomlin further enhancing his own natural resistance to all forms of magic. He was about to leave when he turned back and scooped up several of the enchanted rings depositing them in a small pouch. “Spoils of war,” Kellen remarked. Not knowing what any of them did it would be too risky for him to use any of them, but whatever he took could not be used against him later.
The study’s door opened and Kellen looked for a place to hide; seeing none he readied his warhammer and prepared to strike as a black-robed figure entered the room. He brought the hammer down on the magician with all of his strength in a blow that should have crushed her skull, but she saw some movement in her peripheral vision and leapt back so that the weapon smashed into the stone floor instead leaving it chipped and cracked from the force of the swing.
The magician’s hood fell back to reveal Alia Necros staring at the armored warrior in her office with surprise, but not fear. “Byrn!” sh
e yelled never taking her eyes from Kellen.
The Kenzai swung his hammer in a horizontal arc that Alia would not be able to dodge in such a confined space, but she erected a magical shield that deflected the blow although her shield shook from the combined impact and natural magic absorbing properties of the warhammer.
Instead of swinging again Kellen reached out with his free hand and pressed it against the barrier, which immediately lit up with blue flame as it ate through the shield in a matter of seconds. As the shield faded Alia began to center herself and cast another spell, but it was too late. Kellen grabbed the enchantress and drained her power with the same efficiency that he drained Tomlin.
A large gust of wind blew in from the interior door knocking both Kenzai and magician off their feet. However, unlike Alia who was knocked down flat, Kellen in his heavier and magic resistant armor was only forced to his side and was able to roll into a crouching stance.
The person standing before Kellen who had created the great wind was Byrn Lightfoot as he expected. “Stand down, Kellen,” Byrn told him firmly. The young man Kellen met four years earlier was gone and replaced by this coolly confident and deadly magician. Byrn held his hand out toward the floor and the stone moved to obey. It rose up toward Byrn and changed shape elongating and growing sharper until Byrn held a stone sword in one hand. Then flames sprang from the stone weapon combining two elements into one spell; a difficult trick for most magicians, but one that Byrn appeared to pull off with a casual effort.
“I will ask only once more,” Byrn warned, “Stand down while you still can.”
“What makes you think you can best me?” Kellen asked rising to his feet, weapon in hand, “We are both masters of our disciplines, but I have faced many masters like you in the decades since I first joined the Kenzai Order. How many masters of my order have you faced? I have hunted magicians since before you were born.”
Byrn’s response was in the form of an attack as he charged Kellen with his sword at the ready. It was a sloppy move and one that Kellen easily avoided sidestepping around Byrn so that he was now behind the magician.
Kellen drove the head of his warhammer into the small of Byrn’s back, but his weapon bounced off harmlessly as an invisible magical shield deflected it. How could Byrn wield so many different types of magic at once? It was nearly unheard of in modern times. Even Sane would have difficulty with such a feat and he was a master of multiple magical disciplines.
Byrn turned to face Kellen swinging his sword high and the knight ducked underneath it before giving Byrn a plated punch to the gut that once more spread the blue flame across Byrn’s barrier dissolving it as he had done with Alia’s shield. However, doing so drained much of the magical energy he had absorbed from the enchanters. He guessed he would only be able to negate one or two more spells before he would be out of energy.
The rock-fire sword glanced off of Kellen’s armor at the shoulder as Byrn slashed the weapon back across the other way. It forced Kellen off balance so that he ended up standing over Alia. He cursed himself for even considering such a dishonorable tactic even if it was to save his own life, but the knight lifted the woman off the ground and created a blue flame in one hand and held her tightly with the other. Kellen brought the flame near enough to her face to give Byrn pause to stop his attack without putting her in immediate danger.
“You don’t want to do this,” Byrn said inching his way toward Kellen and Alia.
“Let me go!” Alia shouted angrily trying to push her mental thoughts at the Kenzai, but with her magic temporarily robbed it was a futile effort.
“Sorry, enchantress, but your spells will not work on me.” To Byrn he added, “I will set her free, but I need something from you first.”
Byrn looked into Alia’s stunning blue eyes made all the more brilliant by Kellen’s magical blue flame reflecting in them. In this woman he saw himself as he wanted to be: strong, decisive, and always putting the needs of others before his own and he knew in that moment that he could not stand the thought of being without her. “What do you want?” he asked.
“Safe passage. Agree to transport me out of here and I will release her,” Kellen demanded.
“Done,” Byrn agreed showing no signs of hesitation, “but I need a rune first. I only have a few left that survived the fire, but one is all we need. They are up in my room.”
“Then that is where we will go. Now do me a favor and carry my warhammer for me since my hands are full.”
Byrn discarded his rock-fire sword and the weapon dissolved back into the floor from whence it came. Then he collected Kellen’s hammer and led the way slowly up to his room. They came across several other magicians on the way there including Ryonus and Levak, but Byrn told them all to leave Kellen alone so that no harm would come to Alia. However, that did not stop any of them from following at a safe distance with staves or grimoires at the ready.
When they reached Byrn’s room it did not take long for him to find an undamaged rune. He held it out for Kellen to see. “This will take us to Everec. My mother will undoubtedly treat you well during your time there and I will not be accosted when I try to leave.”
“Turn it over,” Kellen ordered and Byrn obeyed revealing the name Everec written across the back of it in his chaotic handwriting. Satisfied, Kellen agreed to let the woman go if Byrn would take her place as his prisoner just long enough to transport them to Everec.
Byrn looked to each of the magicians that were crowding outside of his bedroom doorway, but their expressions revealed nothing. He, then, looked to Alia who told him not to agree. “He is grasping at straws,” she said ignoring the fact that Kellen held her life in his hands, “Do not let him use me as a bargaining chip,” but Byrn could not risk harm coming to her.
He placed the knight’s hammer against a cupboard nearby and said, “Very well. Take me instead.” Byrn held his arms out to his side so that Kellen could clearly see he was not up to anything.
In the briefest of moments Kellen released Alia and immediately grabbed Byrn now holding the blue flame to his face. Ryonus and Levak moved reflexively to intercept Kellen, but he grabbed Byrn too quickly. He pulled the fire master back until they were near the cupboard where Kellen ordered him to take the warhammer without making any sudden movements.
“Now get us out of here,” Kellen ordered and a moment later they vanished into the air like they were wayward spirits.
Alia turned to Ryonus. If he expected to see sorrow or panic in her face, then he would have been surprised to see only cold determination instead. “How quickly can we get to Everec?” she asked.
Chapter 18
Byrn and Kellen rematerialized in the magician’s tower overlooking the manor house and the city below. Kellen held onto Byrn from behind by the stomach with his left hand and held his other hand to the magician’s face still brandishing a bright blue magical flame. The heat from Kellen’s flame felt warm so near the fire master’s face, which was a surprise in itself since Byrn thought he had transcended any weakness to the elements within the last few months. He tossed Kellen’s warhammer to the floor where it let out a sharp clank, as it struck stone.
“My part of our bargain is complete. Now release me,” Byrn told him bitterly; fueled with the discomfort of being under someone else’s control. When the knight did not loosen his grip, Byrn repeated more harshly, “Kellen, release me!”
Instead, Kellen tightened his hold on Byrn and said, “No, you will stay with me and be brought to justice for your crimes.” A sense of moral superiority could be heard clearly in the knight’s voice.
Byrn began to concentrate on his body focusing his internal energy and preparing to release it in a burst of fire. “This is how a knight of the kingdom honors his agreements?” Byrn ventured in an attempt to keep Kellen distracted from what he was really planning.
“Our agreement was that I would release your girlfriend,” Kellen shot back, “Letting you go was never mentioned.”
“That is how you justi
fy your actions?” Byrn sneered.
Kellen squeezed him even more forcefully in anger. “You want to talk about justifying your actions, knight-magician?” Kellen spit out the title. It was ironic that the last person who called him that was Alia and she did it at that time with all of the venom that Kellen now possessed. “You- who ran off with a group of rogue magicians and broke into Baj.”
“I can no longer support the kingdom. That was before…”
“Before what?”
Before Lion’s Landing. Before he watched people that he loved like family die. Before he held Turshyn’s dying body in his arms even as a crossbow bolt was buried deep in his own back courtesy of a Kenzai assassin.
The magical energy he had been building was released in a fiery burst that threw Kellen away from Byrn, pressing the knight against the wall, but saving him from falling down completely.
Ready to fight, Byrn spun around to face Kellen, but the Kenzai warrior already rebounded from the attack and was charging at Byrn with his palms open and out. He grabbed Byrn’s arms and Kellen’s hands began to glow. Byrn struggled to get free of the larger man’s grip, but found Kellen’s hold to be too powerful to break. In less than a half minute, Kellen had drained the magician of all of his magic.
Knowing that Byrn was no longer a threat, Kellen released him and Byrn stumbled backward, catching hold of a nearby chair to keep from falling to the floor. Kellen retrieved his hammer from where Byrn had tossed it and was about to say something when he suddenly stopped. Something from outside the tower’s window caught his attention.
“My goddess,” Kellen whispered. He starkly stared out the window leaving Byrn all but forgotten for the moment.
For a split second Byrn considered running while the Kenzai was distracted by whatever he was seeing outside, but curiosity got the better of him and he peered over the larger fellow’s shoulder. What he saw shook him to his core. Everec was in shambles. As far as the eye could see homes and shops were destroyed or ransacked with only a few of the larger buildings still standing, unmolested. In the distance Everec’s protective wall was little more than a mess of rocks strewn about the landscape. The main estate where Marian resided was thankfully untouched, but the grounds and much of the city where inns and other large buildings still stood were occupied by gray-skinned figures dressed in primitive garb milling about.
Fallen Magician (The Magician Rebellion) Page 13