Warriormage: Book Three of the 'Riothamus' trilogy

by Rosemary Fryth

Bini shook his head and grinned at Darven, “I think friend Darven here just said the magic word. I can’t honestly remember the last time I drank an ale. I only hope these Sages know how to brew a decent drop!”

  Darven nodded in the direction of the staircase, “Shall we go and see?”

  “You two go on,” Alissa replied with a smile, “My lord Aran and I can entertain each other more than adequately in your absence.”

  *

  Later that evening Aran was woken by the sound of the mages returning. Quietly he lay in his bunk, Alissa curled still asleep in the crook of his arm, and idly he listened to their clearly audible conversation.

  “Not a damn thing. Not even a toothache to plague the population,” complained Master Healermage Genn. “I’ve never before seen such a healthy village.”

  You sound as if you’re disappointed?” replied Trevan. “I for one am always glad to see healthy people. There is enough sickness in the world without wishing it on a village that has none.”

  “I agree, but still it bothers me not knowing what they are doing to keep themselves so well.”

  “It is obvious,” said Trevan cheerfully. “Little contact with the outside world means that few sicknesses and diseases are brought in. Those people who do come in are predominately Earthmages, or in other words educated men and women who know not to neglect their health or hygiene. Besides, the people here eat fresh and not salted or dried food, and they are not exposed to the rigours of winter or mid-summer temperatures. You want to know more then look about you. Their houses are built high above the wet and mud, and are light and airy and scrupulously tidy, and their latrines are the cleanest I’ve ever seen in any part of the province, including Glaive College itself.”

  “All these things do help,” admitted Genn. “However, I dare say this place has not seen a day’s illness in all its long history. You do know they don’t have a Herbalist here. I know…I’ve checked!”

  Aran listening, heard the Master Healermage pace the confines of the common room. Meanwhile, Alissa stirring in his arms murmured a soft, sleepy protest about noisy Healermages having no respect for those trying to sleep.

  “What I’d like to know, is how the women birth their children without even a Herbalist to administer the pain-numbing herbs and roots?” Genn continued. “I mean how do people avoid injuring themselves, or what do they administer for snake bite?” He stopped pacing.

  “I wouldn’t fret about it Genn,” advised Trevan mildly. “I am certain that the forest energies have a beneficial effect on the people living here. They all seem to be thriving.”

  “What is it?” Genn asked.

  “Just a thought...”

  “What?” the other mage asked curiously.

  “You spoke of childbirth, and I’ve just realised that I’ve only seen less than half a dozen children under the age of ten years! For a population that seems so healthy and strong, I am extremely surprised that they have such a low birth rate.”

  “That’s right,” Genn agreed. “We visited most households today…and that’s the other curious thing about Glade. All the houses look exactly the same age. We know that the buildings are the same ones that the Ancients built. Sage Beech told us that the Node has sustained them for two thousand years. Do you suppose? No it cannot be…”

  “They are not the Ancients!” stated Trevan emphatically. “Don’t you remember how Sage Oak said that countless generations have lived here so close to the Node; no, there must be a different answer.”

  “They have a static population…”

  Bini’s voice came floating into the conversation.

  “How do you know?”

  “I’ve been talking with Beech. Over a thousand years ago the Sages made some kind of an agreement with the Entity so they could be allowed to continue living in the forest. Their promise was to never cut down any living tree within two days walk from the centre of the Node. In return, the Entity promised them peace, health and security from the troubles of the outside world. But this gain came at a terrible price…”

  “What price did they have to pay?” asked Trevan heavily.

  “That the only way a couple could conceive a child, was if someone had died naturally in the village, thus leaving a space in the population.”

  “What about all the Earthmages who seem to come here and stay on?” asked Genn.

  “Transients only,” replied Bini. “They stay for a while and then leave. I understand the Entity gives them a compulsion to leave when they look to overstay the forest’s welcome.”

  “That’s terrible,” Genn’s voice was choked. “Why did they decide to pay this heavy price?”

  “Why does anyone do anything?” Bini replied. “This arrangement seemed to suit them, and there hasn’t been a problem until now.”

  “What’s their problem?” asked Trevan.

  “It’s Beech,” the plainsman said. “She’s of an age to wed and have children, but she can’t have any, for they are not expecting any of the elders to naturally die for another twenty years or more.”

  “Can’t she leave?” asked Genn curiously, “Or is she being held against her will?”

  “She is a Sage,” Bini said heavily. “She might leave for a time to receive schooling on Glaive Island, but in the end she is destined to return to the forest. Everyone seems to expect that she will become the next Foremost Keeper after her father steps down.”

  “Can’t she have a child outside?” asked Genn.

  “Apparently not,” replied Bini. “It seems that because she is a born Sage, she is still intimately linked to the vagaries of the forest energies, even if she leaves to go to Glaive.”

  “So what do we do?” asked Trevan. “Short of asking the Guard or one of our Warriormages to kill someone, there is no way that we can induce death in an otherwise healthy person. To take life from where it clings is expressly against the law of all Healermages.”

  “Yet, still I have been brought here,” said Bini. “Ever since entering the forest, I have been under this strong compulsion to find the one thing that called to me. As soon as I saw Sage Beech, I knew and recognised my compulsion. I immediately knew that this was the woman I would mate with, marry and who would bear my children.”

  “I am sorry,” replied Trevan. “But love can be extraordinarily difficult at times. I know I’ve been to that hard place.”

  “This is beyond love or lust,” replied Bini shortly. “This is the hand of the Entity at work. We both realise that we are under compulsion, yet to our sorrow and joy we know that we would not want the compulsion lifted in any way.”

  “Then I grieve for you,” said Genn sadly, “However, in this forest, the will of the Entity seems to be everything. My only advice plainsman is to trust in what the Entity is doing.”

  “I agree,” Trevan added gently, “I am certain there is reason and plan behind this immediate pain. We have only one more day here. Why don’t you two take as much pleasure in each other’s company while you can? We’ll all soon be off to an uncertain reception in Thakur, and Beech has Abilities which must be fostered and nurtured here at Glade. If the Entity truly wills that you two be together, then one day it will be so…you must trust implicitly in the will of the Goddess in this matter.”

  *

  “Poor Bini, poor Beech,” whispered Alissa.

  Aran turned to the woman in his arms, “You’re awake?” he asked in a low voice.

  “I am now, did you hear their conversation?”

  “Aye, are you so certain now that you wish to live in this place?” Aran asked gently.

  Alissa shook her head, “Imagine not being able to conceive a child until someone else died to make way for it. What could the Entity be thinking to put such strictures on these people?”

  “This forest has very harsh laws,” Aran said quietly. “Even amongst the animals, the frailest and weakest are lead to the hunters for culling. I think that it is only the trees that benefit from this place. No wonder the forest is so dense in
this region, not one tree has been felled in two thousand years.”

  “Despite its beauty, I will be glad indeed to leave here,” said Alissa sadly. “The Keep is sea and windswept, but it is home to us and our future children.”

  “I wonder what will happen to Bini?” Aran mused. “Of all the women in the province, he had to fall in love with the most truly unsuitable one of all.”

  “If they honestly want each other, then they will find a way,” replied Alissa. “Bini was right when he said that that this was not some idle fancy. The hand of the Goddess is clearly at work here, and it is to be seen how it will all eventuate.”

  “We two were guided together by the Goddess,” remembered Aran. “Look at the great happiness she has brought us.” He sighed, “Let us keep the knowledge of us overhearing his conversation to ourselves. If Bini speaks of it to us, then well and good, otherwise we support him in everything he says and does.”

  *

  “It is not far now.”

  Sage Oak took his ornately carved wooden staff, and gestured at a particularly dense stand of elms and flowering dog roses, and waited whilst they slowly moved aside to open a path to the group of humans.

  “The forest gets thicker and more impenetrable the closer we move to the Node,” he explained. “Not even Earthmages with their Abilities could get this far. Only the Sages are allowed to open a path directly to it.”

  “Is the Node marked out in any way?” asked Darven with a hint of uncharacteristic anger apparent in his voice.

  The Sage nodded, “In this case, it is marked by a circle of plain earth. Despite the life-creating energies that seep from it, no plant can survive directly on top of the Node. The vegetation starts growing only a scare few yards from the centre of the circle, and continues outwards for many leagues in every direction.”

  “I can see that,” said Aran shortly as he looked back to see that the forest had closed like a green wall directly behind them again.

  “How is everyone feeling?” asked Drayden suddenly.

  Aran looked up, his grey eyes flaring in sudden confused anger. “Well enough mage, although I believe Wolf Leader Darven and I have both woken this morning on the wrong side of the bed.”

  Drayden turned to the other latent Warriormages, “And how are Guardsmen Bennek, and Gunthred faring?”

  Bennek’s blue eyes glittered, “As my lord Aran said, well enough, but I have been in a better temper than now. I think breakfast has disagreed with us.”

  Drayden frowned and turned to the Weathermages, “And you two, how do you fare?”

  “Both Hela and I have headaches,” owned Trenny. “Not like the sort you get after drinking too much ale, but the old ones we used to get before the great storms arrived, the ones that could not be Healed.”

  “Ah,” Drayden sighed, “I suspect it is the energies of the Node at work, already the Abilities are flaring in response to the nearness of it.”

  “I feel no ill-effects,” said Genn, “And neither does Trevan. Why are Healermages exempt?”

  Drayden shrugged, “We Earthmages have no ill-effects either. I think it is because our two disciplines are the closest Attuned to the energies of this particular Node.”

  “It is near,” Alissa said suddenly, “I can feel it.”

  She pointed ahead and to the right, “It is there, not a hundred yards off in my estimation.”

  Sage Oak nodded, “You are correct, lady. Drayden told me yesterday that you were a latent Earthmage, this Awareness of yours confirms it.”

  *

  “It does not look much…” said Bennek irritated. “As yon Sage said, it’s just a plain earth circle.”

  Theaua turned to him in amazement, “Can’t you feel it?”

  “I feel only ill-temper, lady,” he growled angrily.

  “I do feel awfully sick,” admitted Hela. “I wish we could be quit of here. I feel as if an enormous summer thunderstorm is at this moment bearing down on me.” She bowed her head in obvious and apparent pain.

  Bennek immediately walked over and put a hand upon her shoulder to steady her. Once he was certain she was not going to collapse, he looked up to meet the impassive gaze of the Sages, his bright blue eyes flashing in anger, “We are here now. We have seen this place. Can we leave now?”

  Oak shook his head, “I am sorry Warriormage, but there is still the Rite of Reinforcing to endure.”

  “Reinforcing?” Aran snapped. “What is this reinforcing?”

  “It is a Gift,” replied Beech softly, her gentle manner diffusing even Aran’s rising Warriormage anger.

  Bennek placed his calloused hand protectively on Hela’s shoulder, “The lady here is sick, and the old mage is not much better I think. What is this gift that causes so much pain?” he said abruptly.

  “It is a Reinforcing of the Earthpower within us all,” explained Oak. “All of you who have a latent Ability will find that your magepower will be greatly enhanced. It is thought that even non-mages will develop the spark of Ability once they have spent time at the Node itself.”

  The remainder of the Guard looked to each other in some consternation, and there was some low and hurried conversation. Finally two of the guardsmen stepped up to where Drayden and Sage Oak were standing silently regarding the enigma of the Node.

  “If it pleases you my lords,” said Guardsman Kunek suddenly. “Uhmar and I would rather not go into that place. If going onto the Node makes you a mage, then we’d much rather stay the way we are. Neither of us wants any kind of Ability other than that of being in the Guard.”

  Drayden nodded, “There is no need for you all to go if you do not wish it. What about the others?”

  Guardsmen Sigund and Jede stepped up.

  “We’re game for it!” said Sigund confidently.

  “Will we really be turned into Warriormages?” asked Jede anxiously.

  “It is likely,” replied Sage Oak. “Although I admit that you two will be the first non-mages to sleep here.”

  “Sleep?” questioned Trenny. “Is that all that happens?”

  Oak nodded, “This is an active and flowing Node. To be Reinforced all we need to do is sleep for an hour or two upon the earth of the Node itself.”

  Aran frowned, “There is no harm in it?”

  “None that I’ve ever known,” replied the Sage. “The worst of it will be that nothing will happen. The best result will be that all are Reinforced by the energies of this place.”

  Aran nodded his face a study in angry apprehension, “Then if this is needful let it be done…”

  He turned to Drayden. “I assume this is the reason for our journey to Glade?”

  The High Earthmage nodded, “I could not speak of it earlier. I was under Oath and Word.”

  “If you are all set to journey into the heart of the darkness, then you will need as much strength as can be given,” said Beech gently. This Gifting will aid you all in the end.”

  Aran stared at the young blond woman, “The Thakur have a Node in their control don’t they?”

  Beech glanced over towards her father, and Aran caught Sage Oak’s imperceptible nod.

  Aran sighed heavily, “We guessed as much. Do we have a chance against her?”

  “Before, no,” Oak said heavily. “After the Reinforcing, perhaps…you have yet to participate in the Rite, and its effects upon mages other than Earthmages are unknowable. The Archmage has done well in sending you all here first.”

  “The Archmage knows of the Nodes of Power,” said Trenny disbelievingly.

  Oak nodded, “Every Archmage that has sat at Glaive has known of the Nodes. With this knowledge comes also the great and dreadful responsibility of wardship. We Sages are the Keepers of this Node and protect it from exploitation.”

  “But we know of it now,” said Darven. “How can you trust that we will not go rushing back to tell the world about this place of power.”

  “And who would believe you?” asked Oak carefully. “And if any did, who indeed could come to
this place? As you have seen and heard, the forest has its own very useful protections.”

  “What about the one on Glaive and the one up north somewhere?” asked Aran.

  “Glaive can look after itself,” replied Trenny stiffly, his eyes clouded still with the pain of his headache “We Weathermages demonstrated our own defenses during the time of the Serat occupation. If needs be, it can be done again!”

  “And the one in the north is dormant and lost,” replied Oak. “Its energies are stifled and capped by rock. It would take a team of Sages working night and day to wake it, and allow it to flow properly.”

  “The one in the sea is inaccessible,” added Beech. “Only the deep ocean creatures know of its existence and energies.”

  “We ought to get this over and done with,” said Aran finally, heavily. “The day wears on, and we have much yet to do before we leave on the morrow.”

  Oak nodded, and gestured to the others to follow him onwards into the circle.

  *

  One by one, the group stepped warily from the relative protection of the forest, and onto the warm dark earth of the Node. Suddenly, there was a loud crack, and everyone, except the Sages jumped in shock.

  “Do not be alarmed,” reassured Oak. “It is just the natural movement of the energies and vortices…look, there is another being released.”

  Aran stiffly turned his head, and saw a thin, but impossibly bright ribbon of light disengage itself from the soil, and twist and arc across the Node, before it disappeared into the sunlight. Immediately the air replied with a sudden crack of sound.

  Hela stared at the vortices of energy in fascination.

  “It seems to be a similar form of energy that drives the storms,” she said breathlessly, her sickness temporarily forgotten by the display around her.

  “It will be impossible to sleep with all this noise,” said Genn.

  “It will settle,” replied Oak. “The energies are just responding to the magepower present. Now come, we must all lie down and close our eyes. Sleep will come, it always does.”

  Aran lay down on the warm earth, and watched in fascination as he wriggled his fingers, and watched sparks jump from the ground to his skin and back again. Almost without violation his eyes began to close. Faintly he heard the waiting two guardsmen ask how long the others would sleep, heavy darkness engulfed him before he heard the Sage’s soft and reassuring reply…