They traveled heading at a northwestern route deeper into the forest. Sane guessed they were in the Black Woods although he could not be entirely sure. The Black Woods were said to be haunted and monster infested, but there was little evidence to support such claims. Bandits were more likely the only threat worth worrying about in this place and the cause of such rumors.
Sane and Kellen swapped stories of their recent travels as Byrn listened intently offering little even as Kellen recounted the breakout at Baj and his capture at the hands of the Collective.
He nodded in agreement at Sane’s questioning glance, “Kellen speaks the truth, but he fails to understand my reasons. It is my hope that saving both of your lives will at least convince you to hear me out once we have a chance to rest.”
“You are not the only who has done questionable things,” Sane admitted with a sidelong glance at Kellen whose face was impossible to read. Sane described his encounter with the Kenzai assassin, Bertran, and how Sane ended his life causing Byrn’s ears to perk up like those of an excited dog.
“I thought that I killed Bertran,” Byrn mumbled to himself, “and that Kassani came to take my soul for it.” A smile creased his face and he began laughing more due to his weariness than any true humor. He used a tree to support himself and began to slump forward.
“You were not kidding about me carrying you,” Kellen said dully as he put his arm around Byrn, but the magician had already fainted. Now that Byrn was asleep Kellen began to speak freely. “Your story disturbs me on several levels,” he told Sane, “I cannot abide the idea of making anyone slaves as you describe, but my loyalty must be with my king and if you have renounced your fealty...”
“Then we must be enemies,” Sane finished for him, “I would hope that our shared history would at least buy me your ear until we are clear of the forest.”
“You still live, do you not?” Kellen laughed.
“Fair enough, but I would prefer to wait until Byrn awakens since this concerns him as well.”
“Do you think what that orc said about him was true? In the last day, he shrugged off my chakra attack that should have prevented him from using magic for a full day in less than six hours. Then he cast a manipulation spell on his own body that any master would be proud of. To top it all off, he created that fire creature and rescued us while channeling two elements at once.”
“Three,” Sane corrected with a small amount of pride at his former student’s accomplishment.
“And he did it all without a staff or grimoire,” Kellen finished.
Sane nodded. “Byrn has always been a prodigy, but those things you mentioned… In many ways he has advanced beyond even my skills and what is more he seems to be progressing at an exponential rate. In four years, he has progressed faster than any magician that I have known. Not only is his body acting like a giant magic repository, but he comes up with new ways to use his power- ways that most magicians would never even consider.”
“So you think he is this coming evil the orc told you of?”
“No,” Sane answered instantly, but after a moment of reflection amended his answer, “I don’t know. He has great power, but he also believes that he is cursed by the gods and unable to kill.”
“That is preposterous!” Kellen said louder than he intended causing the limp man he was carrying to stir a little before falling back to sleep. He continued with his voice lowered, “Look at what he did in Everec. He basically razed the whole city.”
“Did you see anyone die by his hand?” Sane countered.
“Well, no,” Kellen was forced to admit, “but I was in that dirt cocoon for a while.”
“Maybe that is his secret,” guessed Sane half-kidding, but he wondered if he was hitting upon something as he said the words, “Maybe he progresses so quickly, because he must find ways to deal with grave threats without harming his enemies. He has no choice except to outthink his adversaries.”
Another hour passed before they came to a clearing that would make a good campsite. Sane cleared the ground of underbrush while Kellen searched for fallen branches that would make a good fire as well as any fruits and berries that they could eat. It did not take long for the warrior to come back with his hands filled with firewood, berries, and some wild mushrooms and herbs. Sane crafted some of the wood into bowls and a larger pot while Kellen prepared the remaining wood for kindling.
Another wisp of magic from the sorcerer to fill the pot with water and light the kindling and soon they were resting comfortably by the fire while a light soup simmered. “We should camp more often,” Kellen remarked and pulled off his helmet as he lazed by the campfire. He looked to the peacefully sleeping Byrn. “How far do you think he took us?”
“Depends on his stride,” Sane shrugged. “If we are in Blackwood as I suspect, then we could be thirty miles from Everec. There won’t be any orcs coming for us this night.”
They ate the sparse soup hungrily, but Byrn did not wake or even stir at the smell of the food. Sane shook him lightly, but he slept like the dead.
“Where are we headed?” Kellen asked thinking of the Collective. He did not wish to go through all of this trouble just to end up back in their dungeon and he was forced to admit that he had no idea what Byrn’s intentions were. They shared a common enemy in the orcs, but that threat was now passed for the moment and Kellen started wondering where Byrn’s allegiance would lie when he woke up.
“Byrn mentioned something about survivors…” Sane tried to make his arm into a pillow assuming correctly that Kellen would take the first watch. He knew that the knight would not want to go through the trouble of removing his armor just to put it back on in a few hours.
Kellen had many more questions, but held his tongue. He wanted to know more about what happened to Byrn and the change of heart that Sane recently had. It was rare for him, but Kellen felt unsure of himself. A big part of him thought it would be best to slit the young man’s throat. Byrn made an unprecedented leap in magical ability in two days and it scared the Kenzai.
When Sane was deep in sleep some time later Kellen crept over to Byrn. He would not kill a man while he slept, but neither could he allow Byrn to roam freely with so much power at his disposal. He touched the magician on the shoulder and drained Byrn’s magic. It took nearly two minutes for Kellen to completely absorb all of that magic and he felt like his body would explode. Quickly, Kellen pushed as much of the power as he could into his armor to relieve the pressure while simultaneously better fueling its enchantments.
Hours passed, but Kellen never woke Sane for his turn at watch. The magically charged warrior found that sleep was impossible.
Chapter 21
The next morning Sane and Kellen broke camp and continued heading in the northwestern direction Byrn had indicated the day before. He did not wake that morning, but his rest appeared peaceful, so Sane tried his best not to concern himself with that. He spent much of the next day trying to figure out how Byrn created that golem and how exactly he controlled it without a magic device.
Kellen grumbled about being forced to carry the boy, but the group made regular stops so that he could put Byrn down and rest. It was during one of these breaks that Sane approached Kellen with alarming news.
“I think we are being watched,” he said.
“Orcs?” Kellen asked quietly and the sorcerer noticed a slight clenching of the man’s jaw.
“Perhaps, but it is not likely,” said Sane, “There is a negative presence that has been stalking us for the last half hour or so. However, it comes from ahead of us like it is content to observe us and fall back. I do not sense any overtly malicious intentions or otherworldly essence coming from the presence though.”
The knight breathed a sigh of relief, “Is that your way of saying that it is a human presence? I am too worn out to fight anyone with some real power right now, but a nice run in with bandits is just what I need to take my mind off of all this craziness.” It was good to see Kellen’s spirit improving. The big ma
n untied his pouch looking for some of their preserves when something else caught his eye. “What do you make of these?” he asked, holding a set of five rings in his hand.
Sane took them and began to examine each intently, pushing a little magic at each of the rings and gauging their reactions. “A ring of luck,” he said as he held up a plain gold ring with a studious expression before setting it aside. “A ring of… fire channeling,” was the next one.
“Probably a gift for Byrn,” Kellen told Sane, “the woman making these seemed smitten with him from the little I saw them together… from my cell.” A hint of bitterness crept into his voice at the end.
“This one is… interesting,” Sane said hoping to draw his friend’s mind away from his imprisonment if just for a short while. “This ring is… well it is like one of a pair. It is drawn to its twin and will lead the bearer of the other ring to this one.”
“How could I have been so foolish? The Collective could be tracking us down even now!” Kellen exclaimed nearly jumping to his feet from flat rock he had been using as an impromptu seat.
“Hold, friend,” Sane held up another ring that looked identical to the previous one, “This is the matching ring right here.” Kellen collapsed back on his rock suddenly relieved.
“So what does the last one do?” the knight asked.
Sane examined it for a few minutes before answering, “This is some sort of healing ring!” Such a thing should not be possible. “Only priests can use Ashura’s healing arts and even then they have never stored that power in physical objects.”
“The Collective had a priest among them,” Kellen said, “Perhaps he enchanted the ring with the woman’s help.” Sane was not so sure, but let the matter drop.
“May I keep this one?” he asked of the healing ring and Kellen agreed. Sane slipped it on his finger and a few seconds later began to feel a soft tingle along the scabs on his arm where he bit himself. The knight put the luck ring on his finger and placed the rest of them back in his pouch for safekeeping.
Once they were well rested they continued onward with Sane carrying their limited supplies that they managed to forage and trap and Kellen lugging Byrn’s slumbering body on a stretcher that Sane helped him make with the judicious use of magic stretching and shaping the wood.
The first snows of winter began to fall that day. It was little more than a dusting in the forest, but that combined with the chill in the air reminded them that they would need to seek shelter soon. Camping in open patches of land would not be healthy for much longer. They discussed turning more northward to reach some of the Western Province’s settlements for a time, but their discussion was cut short by the appearance of a lady of the forest. She appeared before them as if from nowhere fore they never heard or saw her approach. Her hair and eyes were black as night and her skin had a soft white hue that almost seemed to glow before the sorcerer’s weary eyes. In all his years on this world, Sane could not recall seeing anything as divine as an elf at home amongst the woodlands.
“Sane? It really is you!” called out the elf who gleamed with excitement as she hugged him tightly. “I thought you might be dead.” Sane did not want to let her go. Not once did he doubt that Sari found a way out of Everec, but he had to fight back tears of relief. His father always told him when he was a boy to never let a woman see you cry, and he never did.
Three more rangers came out of the forest followed by one fumbling old man. He recognized one of the rangers as Marian Lightfoot and the old man was Councilor Aldyd. The other two rangers he did not know, although Sane was sure he had been introduced to one of them before all the fighting began. Introductions were made and Sane learned that the other two rangers were called Donovan and Chance. He introduced Kellen to the group, because with the exception of Sari none of them had ever met the hero of Colum although being a former resident of the city, Marian had seen him at annual celebrations from a distance.
To Marian, he added, “There is another with us that you should meet,” and he waved his hand at the stretcher resting behind Kellen. The lady’s eyes grew as recognition set in and she rushed to its side falling to her knees at the body lying there. She took her son’s hand in her own as tears ran down her face. Sane put his hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Do not worry, he lives and is unharmed.”
“Why is he lying there?” she asked trying to regain a semblance of composure.
“He has been like that for nearly two days,” Kellen blurted out earning him a foul look from Sane.
“It is not uncommon for magicians to require long periods of rest after heavy exertion,” Sane told her trying to evoke a sense of the ordinary to the mother frightened for her son’s safety.
“Perchance we should continue this reunion someplace a bit warmer,” Aldyd suggested, “like back at our camp.”
The camp in question was set up at the mouth of a cave a few miles away. The group of survivors came upon it the day before as they headed north to civilization. They stayed there for an extra day to enjoy a break from the cold nights as they gathered food prior to continuing north for Silvering. The cave was a welcome change from sleeping in the forest and the newcomers quickly made themselves comfortable among the survivors.
Sari and Aldyd took turns filling in Sane about what happened after the orcs captured him while Marian looked after Byrn. She had calmed down after they arrived, accepting Sane’s explanation that Byrn had overexerted himself, but when she pressed the sorcerer for more information he would only tell her that that was Byrn’s tale to tell. In truth, he feared that she would be repulsed by what Byrn had done. He saw parents disown their children many times when they found out that their son or daughter was a magician. He did not want Byrn to have to go through that. No one should be called a demon or monster by his own parents.
For his part, Kellen made conversation with Donovan and Chance. The pair seemed to have a dark attitude toward Sane and they would watch him with darting glances when they thought no one was looking. The sorcerer could sense the negative energy wafting off of one of them and knew it as the presence that was watching them in the forest earlier. Either Donovan or Chance had some latent magical talents.
The chill of night was held at bay as the group ate a light, but delicious meal prepared by Sari and Donovan consisting of rabbit and squirrel stew seasoned with thyme and some other herbs that Sane did not recognize. Full bellies and a warm fire did little to improve the group’s morale as they ate together.
“That is the fellow that lived in the tower for a time?” Chance asked with a nod to Byrn. He was resting near the fire, but still had not roused.
“Yes, he is my son, Byrn,” Marian smiled to say those words, but restlessness showed behind her eyes for those who dared to look deeper.
“Then he is a magician,” Donovan’s eyes darted to Sane for an instant before averting his gaze away just as quickly, “It is a shame he could not have arrived in Everec a little sooner. Having a magician on our side would have been a big help.”
Sane was about to say something to defend himself, but he felt a cold touch on his wrist. He looked down to see Kellen’s plated glove wresting there. The knight shook his head gently.
“It must have been difficult losing your home like that,” Kellen offered a gentle reminder to Sane that these people were still grieving their many losses. Sometimes it was easier to accept a tragedy if the blame could be placed on a single person whether they were at fault or not. If Sane was to be that scapegoat, then so be it. It would not be the first time and, in truth he did not care what these two thought of him anyway.
However, Sari would not stand idly by while Sane was attacked. In a rare moment of seriousness, the elf’s voice became edged with tough conviction, “Mind your tone, Donovan. Sane stood with us at the start of the battle, or do you not recall that he was single handedly protecting all of us before he became overwhelmed and was taken prisoner?” The bite in her voice sent a shiver up the sorcerer’s spine. Sari sounded very much like her f
ather, the king of the Red Tree Clan, at that moment.
The rest of the evening was spent mostly in silence. Being apparently the only person respected by everyone there, Sari set the watch for the night in pairs of two. The rotation was set up as Kellen and Donovan; Marian and Chance; and Sane and Sari. The elder Aldyd was the only one who would be able to rest through the night.
***
Kellen and Donovan sat in silence for a time, each one watching the other and trying to decide if they were staring at a friend or a foe. Finally, it was Donovan who extended the olive branch. “My uncle was a Kenzai,” he blurted out. “It was a secret. I wasn’t supposed to know being a boy at the time, but I overheard my parents talking about it one night when they thought I was asleep. They were scared for him.”
Kellen made a point of poking at the fire, unsure of what to say to that. Finally, he asked, “Is that why you fear Sane? He is a good man. As long as you do not attempt to harm him, he will not do anything to you.”
Donovan shook his head thinking of his overheard conversation between the sorcerer and the elf. He almost told Kellen of their talk, but held his tongue.
Mistaking Donovan’s silence for thought, Kellen added, “I am a Kenzai too, and there are few people that I trust as much as the sorcerer sleeping over there. He is used to being distrusted as a magician. If you make an effort to be cordial, he will respond in kind.”
“He is not worthy of trust,” Donovan sneered, “Not if you knew what I know.” Donovan’s eyes got big as he realized he had said too much. “Look, I just want to get to Silvering and we can part ways. Whatever you and your friends have planned is none of my concern.”
“What do you think you know?” Kellen asked, trying to sound as good-natured as possible. Donovan seemed like he would bolt at any minute- snow and darkness be damned. “I promise whatever you have to say will stay between us,”
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