Ardeen, Volume 1: The Circle of Magic

by Sigrid Kraft

  “... and wastes his time with a fool of a beginner. We are practicing. Or have you already forgotten that?”

  If you listen in to other people’s thoughts, you get what you deserve.

  More waspfire interrupted Eryn’s thinking. The negation was not working. Finally he made a shield of thickened magic and defended himself against the fire spell with that.

  “Have we just cheated there?” the Prince noticed immediately.

  Eryn murmured an excuse and struggled with the negation once again.

  They were riding through landscape of extraordinary beauty, but Eryn did not notice it. All his concentration was devoted to scanning and raising shields. Suddenly the light faded and Eryn realized that the path had led them into a wood where the foliage blocked out most of the sunlight.

  It was late afternoon when Prince Raiden chose a glade as their next camping spot. He “set up” camp just as he had done the day before, although the horses did not have such an appealing paddock this time.

  Eryn’s first task was to attend to the fire. With magic of course. From collecting the wood to setting it alight. And he managed it quite well thanks to his constant practicing the day before.

  The fire radiated a warm glow and made Eryn feel cozy and drowsy, but this was shattered by the Prince’s voice cutting through the air:

  “What about the horses? Get them some water! Did you see that trickle we passed?”

  “Yes, my Prince.” Eryn turned in that direction and had taken just a few steps before words stabbed into his back like daggers.

  “What do you think you are doing? MAGIC! Sit down and start casting! Go!”

  Sometimes it is far easier and less exhausting to do such things by hand – without all that sorcery palaver.

  For Eryn, the unmagical way was usually the better choice. Soon his forehead was covered in sweat. But so far he had only managed to spill water all the way from the little stream to their camp. Then finally he managed to present the packhorse with a small sip.

  If you know how it works, it isn’t difficult any more.

  Whilst casting, Eryn did not remain seated as commanded but got up and walked a little closer to the horses. He also used gestures to help the magical flow, and thus completed the task at least.

  Once his horse had drunk, Eryn let the next package of water float in Brood’s direction. The stallion was a distrustful and temperamental beast, and Eryn did not trust him at all either. Brood started to drink and all was going well, until...

  “Eryn, afterwards I’d like the fish grilled.”

  For a brief moment Eryn’s concentration was distracted and as a result the water crashed to the ground and splashed all over Braeven’s Brood. The stallion jumped aside in shock and rolled his eyes wildly, breathing fire towards Eryn. Fortunately the young man had just enough time to create a fire shield to protect himself.

  “Oh dear, you very nearly had a magical accident. It is lucky that we practiced that very maneuver today,” the Prince said ironically.

  Braeven’s Brood was still regarding Eryn with distrust, and Eryn carefully took another step back.

  He knows that I have bewitched the water.

  “Certainly. Brood himself is a magical creature. He sees magic. And after attacking him in such a treacherous manner, you had better stay away from him.”

  Eryn replied sourly: “May I now tend to the meal, my Prince?” As long as I steer well clear of that awful beast, I will be just fine.

  Prince Raiden went over to his stallion. “Yes, do so. By the way: you can collect fruits and berries in the same way as we collect dry branches.”

  Then he patted Brood’s neck and talked to his horse.

  “He is such a Nurin. So don’t roast him just yet. If Master Elderon is pleased, we will be rid of him...” The Lord of Naganor continued to engage Brood in idle conversation whilst concocting small magic flames in the palm of his hand, which the stallion ate greedily. Then the beast nudged his master with his muzzle, to persuade him to produce more of these treats.

  Eryn relaxed a little. As long as Prince Raiden is busy with the stallion I can enjoy a few minutes of rest.

  He found – magically of course – some tasty roots and herbs nearby to spice up the fish. Using these ingredients he conjured up a rather delicious meal – with no magic at all. Eryn was very familiar with the back of beyond, and cooking was nothing new for him either. Even the Prince praised Eryn for his skills: “You are a much better cook than magician. Maybe you are following the wrong profession.”

  The Prince fell silent and attended to his meal, whilst Eryn stood ready to fill the Prince’s cup with wine. He had wisely tasted the dish several times whilst it was cooking. Tasting was important and also sated his great hunger. Tired as he was, Eryn stifled a yawn and waited until the Prince had finished his fine dinner. Putting the cutlery aside, the Prince said: “A comfortable fire, a delicious meal, a lady’s company... well, that is just wishful thinking out here in the open. But interesting conversation would make a pleasant end to an arduous day. Sit down. We can at least give it a try.”

  Eryn felt uneasy. That clearly breaks the first rule: avoid His Highness’s attention at any cost.

  The mage’s steel-blue eyes looked Eryn up and down intensely.

  “So what shall we talk about? Solving difficult problems in high magic? Definitely not. Court gossip? Other countries’ politics, their intrigues and relationship with Ardeen? Well, it seems I cannot find a suitable topic... “

  As long as he continues this monolog, I can’t say anything wrong.

  “Let us do it completely different this time. That may be entertaining too. You ask me. Anything you want to know.”

  Eryn sensed a trap. “My Prince, I don’t want to incur your disfavor.”

  “Oh, come on! You have nothing to fear.”

  Treacherous ice. But there are things I really want to know. So he challenged the Prince:

  “Why did you do this to me?” And Eryn held up his three-fingered lizard-hand.

  The Prince leaned back against a wall as comfortable as it was magical and invisible. “Strong and powerful magic was hidden in your hand, and the slightest touch was enough to attack me viciously. Though I myself have only a vague idea where that magic comes from, and you – as is now obvious – have absolutely no idea at all. You should be rather grateful to me however, because it was blocking the access to your veins.”

  “And why was it there?”

  The Prince shrugged: “If only I knew! Your sole contact with a mage was with that old woman. What did you say her name was?”

  “Finngul – and she was no mage!” The old memories took Eryn back to that time.

  “Don’t be naive, boy! The only question is: how she was able to cast in the Unhaer. What did she use? A crystal, a glass sphere, rune bones...?”

  The wise woman’s reedy voice echoed in Eryn’s memory: Look into the cauldron...

  “A cauldron, my Prince. She always looked into a cauldron. But if I understand correctly, magical creatures can’t survive in the Unhaer. So how could I grow up there unharmed?”

  “Here is my theory. The gift of magic usually increases with age and does not gain noticeable power until children are a few years old. This is clearly a protective function provided by nature so that children do not clumsily kill themselves with magic. You said you were rather sick as a child and that this Finngul cured you with magic. I am of a somewhat different opinion. Your magic became too strong and the Unhaer started to kill you. So she hid it in your hand, which protected you from the Unhaer somehow. But it also sealed your magic. Is the old hag still alive? Because there are some questions I would like to ask her.”

  Eryn did not know for sure, because he had left the clan community long ago. “Some say that she left the village. But no one knows where she is now.

  Just gone. Others suppose that she just died. The mountains are a dangerous place and she was quite old the last time I saw her.” Suddenly Eryn was a
ware of a fact he had not realized before:

  “If I wanted to go back to the Unhaer in the mountains, could I or not?”

  The Prince clapped his hands with delight: “Exactly, we seem to be thinking along the same lines for once. And to test the theory we will go to a place of Unhaer nearby. Some very nasty sorcery must have been done there. Such as can force the magic out of an area. There are also natural occurrences of Unhaer, such as in the mountains of North Ardeen.” Then the Prince changed the subject: “Have you read the chronicle about Harok the good-natured, oafish sorcerer and Baelan the traitor and rebel? I remember arguing about that in our unhappy past.”

  Eryn felt uncomfortable admitting to having read the historical writings. With merciless realism they had smashed his old world view into pieces. And straightaway the Prince found another unpleasant topic: “There is one thing I really want to know. Who helped you by giving you a different hand? And don’t tell me you did this yourself. Now that I have a true picture of your great abilities, I do not believe you capable of that for an instant.”

  Eryn made an innocent face: “My Prince, I don’t know either. I have absolutely no memory of it. Prove it yourself, if you like.”

  Of course the Prince wanted to prove it himself. Well, all my mages did that before, but I, the Towerlord of Naganor, have a few tricks more up my sleeve.

  After trying for a while, the Prince conceded: “Someone worked on you and cleaned up afterwards. You seem to have a lot of small secrets and no memory about the answers. But that is enough small talk for today. There are still some hours left. Clean up here, and then we will start with a lesson in fighting magic.”

  Eryn had already had enough for today, but he resisted the temptation to complain.

  The lesson consisted of creating a sword of fire and Eryn using this magical weapon to defend himself against bewitched broomsticks. Eryn tried to concentrate, whilst the Prince attended to other activities.

  On the third day of their journey of martyrdom the sky began to cloud over, and it turned windy and bracingly chilly.

  The day passed in the same manner as the day before. They rode down a path which nature had already half-reclaimed. The lesson about shields wasn’t new either, but now the Prince switched randomly between air spells and fire spells. This did not make things easy for Eryn, and he was rather glad when the Prince reined Brood in and announced a rest. The stop was not intended to give Eryn a recreational break of course, but to allow the Lord of Naganor to answer a call of nature.

  Sweat it out, we have no time for dilly-dallying, he told me yesterday. But for him, it’s always different.

  Eryn dismounted and scanned the surroundings in the way an old trapper would do. He could not manage that whilst he was casting. Or rather he was unable to cast when his attention was distracted by other things. His eyes noticed the leaves of a bush swaying strangely. He looked more closely and saw that someone was hiding there.

  We’ve been followed!

  In alarm he looked around, inconspicuously, and saw more people in hiding. When the Prince came back from the opposite direction, Eryn moved close and whispered: “My Prince, we are surrounded. Someone has followed us.”

  That news didn’t surprise Prince Raiden at all. He answered in Eryn’s thoughts: “So you have discovered them too. They have been following us for quite a while. A gang of thieves, nothing more. We will tackle them now.”

  They seem to outnumber us clearly, Eryn thought, but the Prince stopped him.

  “So what? Unmagicals do not matter if there are less than a hundred of them. Take the horses aside, and we will set up camp as usual. Then those rats will surely come out of their holes. Makes it easier if we do not have to run after every single one of them.”

  The he announced loudly: “We will rest here for a while. Tend to the horses!”

  “Yes, my Prince.”

  Eryn tethered them to a thick branch and loosened the saddle belt. Brood leered nervously at Eryn and sent small clouds of smoke from his nostrils. The moment Eryn turned back to the Prince, there was a rustling in the bushes and three mean-looking fellows stepped into the glade, cutting Eryn and the Prince off from their horses. The robbers stared at their collection of different weapons. Then the man in the middle, who had a nasty scar across his face, stepped forward and spoke.

  “I won’t bother you with long speeches. You are surrounded and now you’ll very slowly put your daggers aside and take off your armor.”

  Their other weapons hung on the saddles and, along with the horses, were out of reach. Eryn called himself a fool for not having taken a weapon, but the Prince was relaxed.

  “Eryn, a fine opportunity to practice fighting magic. When I give you a signal, take care of these three here.”

  To the robbers’ disbelief, the Prince pronounced judgment: “By the power vested in me as Prince of Ardeen, I accuse you of highway robbery and therefore sentence you to death.”

  The robber with the scar laughed loudly: “Now listen to that. He claims to be the Prince of Ardeen and travels through my wood with just one servant. What nonsense! And, by the way, you’re not in Ardeen anymore. So stop wasting our time, or the option to hold you for ransom is canceled.”

  Prince Raiden had no intention of obeying the robbers: “The execution will be carried out at once!” His words hung icily in the air.

  Should I attack now? Eryn wasn’t sure what he should do and put his insecurity into his thoughts, hoping the Prince would read his mind as usual. And he was right about that.

  “What part of “attack now” do you not understand?!!”

  All right, I got it. Eryn moved sideways and conjured up a flickering blade.

  “Damn! A mage!” one of the scoundrels shouted.

  “Kill him!” demanded another. A spear flew directly towards Eryn. He dodged it and ran.

  As Eryn met his opponent, the magical blade was nothing more than a thin flame. Trying to improve his weapon, Eryn overdid it again, and the fire surged out of control, blasting into a nearby tree, which snapped in two. None of this killed any of the robbers, but it caused confusion enough, and Eryn made use of this to stab the nearest man between the ribs. He tore the spear out off the dying man’s hand and spun round just in time to counter the blow of a sword. Then Eryn stabbed with the spear and the metal head hit the man’s raised shield. This left the man’s nether regions exposed and Eryn took the chance to kick the robber hard in the balls. As the man doubled up in agony, Eryn finished him off by piercing his neck with the spear. Eryn jerked round sharply in readiness for the next attack. But the third robber was already dead, flat out in a pool of his own blood.

  Prince Raiden had not moved from the same spot the whole time.

  “You are completely off the topic, Eryn!” the Prince lectured.

  Still breathing heavily from the fight, Eryn stood there completely aghast. What?

  “Out of eight robbers you have finished off exactly none with the help of magic. Two fellows you overcame with raw violence, but that wasn’t your task. A tree fell victim to your magic, but that was one thing that did not mean us any harm – at least, so I would imagine.

  For your sake I took care of the other six robbers and also of the arrows, which would otherwise now be sticking in your back.”

  Eryn’s mouth opened and closed again, as if he were a fish. He was speechless. Here I am risking my life in combat and the Prince makes a game of it and keeps score.

  “No more time wasting, please. Get the horses! We have to move on.”

  Eryn returned slowly to the present: “What about the bodies? What happens to them now?”

  He was punched by something in the air. Have we forgotten our manners?

  “My Prince,” Eryn added quickly, and His Highness condescended to answer now:

  “What will happen to these corpses? Some wild animals will be happy to feast on them and fill their bellies. Judged according to the law and executed. I would say all is exactly as it should be.”
>
  They continued on their way and the Prince surveyed the landscape in a vague manner.

  “I haven’t been here for a long time. The Unhaer cannot be far now.”

  The Lord of Naganor was busy with searching spells and so Eryn’s tutoring did not continue. A very welcome and rather refreshing rest. They reached the treeline and rode out onto sparse upland until they came to a plateau where a stone column stood tall and solemn.

  “Now we shall see. Eryn, ride as far as you can towards that column.”

  “Is this the place of Unhaer, my Prince?”

  “Don’t ask so many stupid questions. You will see soon enough.”

  Feeling uneasy, Eryn urged his horse forwards. Nothing seemed to happen for the first few steps, but then Eryn suddenly felt sick and his eyes misted over. Then he could not breathe anymore and slumped forward in his saddle, completely drained. He made a weak attempt to turn the mount around, but the horse did not react and trotted stubbornly on.

  “Damn! Come back now!” the Prince shouted, but Eryn did not hear him as he was nearly unconsciousness. He was losing strength with every step and could barely keep himself on his horse.

  The next thing he felt was a splash of water, which brought him round, followed by the Prince’s inspiring words: “Damned idiot! Luckily your horse was still listening to my commands, even if you are deaf and stubborn. Did you want to kill yourself?”

  Eryn’s legs were still weak and he could barely stand. “My Prince, what happened?”

  “A stupid question, do you not think? Unhaer land! We wanted to find out whether or not you can still live there like before. I think the answer is clear now, or do you want to try again?”

  Prince Raiden was in a foul mood and Eryn still felt very weak and sick too. “Certainly not, my Prince.”

  Eryn used his knowledge of healing magic to help clear his head. The magic suddenly increased unexpectedly, and Eryn realized that the Prince was helping with the spell.