Birth of a Wizard

by MJ Schutte

  Brighton connected to the crowd. Stealing only a small amount from every person so that they would not notice, he gathered energy. He knew his body could handle more than Asdargh’s since he was used to this.

  The fight became a blur, steel and oak connecting repeatedly. Eventually Brighton felt the energy link between Asdargh and Jaclyn disappear. She was exhausted.

  He gathered a little more energy from the crowd and retracted his gift.

  A final assault from Brighton left the elf lying on the ground in a daze. Brighton turned to Jaclyn, his eyes daring her to feed Asdargh more energy. She sat slumped in her chair; she had no more to give.

  Slowly she rose and very reluctantly said, ‘Brighton wins.’

  A roar that could make a dead goat rise up and run away erupted from the crowd.

  Lady Jaclyn shot a dark look at Brighton before she slowly walked off the platform.

  Chapter 8

  THE PEOPLE OF Fenton were ecstatic about having a human as their Warrior Trials champion. As the group was making its way home, people offering congratulations stopped them numerous times. Coins were shoved into Brighton’s hands, farmers gave vegetables and other gifts. Blacksmiths offered to make him the best sword in the Mountain Kingdom and a few women even offered some bedroom favours.

  When they finally reached Peter and Nicky’s house, everybody was carrying something. Peter even had a piglet in his arms.

  ‘What are we going to do with this?’ he asked.

  Brighton laughed and said, ‘We can go set it free in the woods later.’

  All the gifts were stacked on the kitchen table.

  ‘You are easily the most popular Warrior Trials winner I have ever seen,’ Nicky smiled at him.

  ‘Thank you,’ Brighton replied self-consciously.

  ‘I know of two people who are not that pleased,’ he added in a serious tone.

  ‘Asdargh and Jaclyn,’ Brac guessed.

  Brighton nodded, a frown creeping across his forehead.

  ‘I’m worried that Asdargh will try to take revenge on one of you. We already know he hates Peter, now he hates me and everybody in this group,’ Brighton said worriedly.

  ‘Asdargh will return to the elf forest as soon as possible. He might already be on his way. I don’t think we should worry about him. Why do you think Lady Jaclyn is unhappy about this?’ Peter replied.

  ‘She was feeding Asdargh energy through a link while we were fighting. She clearly wanted him to win,’ Brighton explained.

  Before anybody could answer, he quickly turned to Lilian.

  ‘There is something much more important than my victory. Tell us about Robyn,’ he said to her.

  Lilian sat down on a chair and started telling the group about her and Adri’s meeting with Robyn. She also told them about Theodor and Eleda and the elf woman’s reaction when Robyn said that all elves follow Jaclyn without question.

  ‘I wonder what that was all about,’ Brighton mused.

  ‘I did not have a chance to ask. To be honest, there was so much else going through my head, I didn’t even think about it at the time,’ Lilian replied.

  ‘That’s understandable,’ Brighton smiled at her.

  Brighton looked at the mountain of food and gifts on the table.

  ‘Peter, Nicky, please help yourself to any of this stuff,’ he offered.

  Nicky shook her head and said, ‘These things were given to you.’

  Brighton touched her arm softly and said, ‘Let’s call it payment for taking us in. We can all share in the food and anything we don’t need or want we can give to people who could use it.’

  Peter nodded his thanks to Brighton and helped Nicky pack away the things. The only thing left on the table was a leather bag with coins in.

  ‘We are not taking your money,’ Peter said.

  Brighton turned the bag over and emptied the contents on the table. Everybody’s eyes went wide.

  ‘I knew there were one hundred and ten coins you won in the bag, but I didn’t realise how much the people of Fenton gave you. There must be over two hundred coins here, most of them gold!’ Peter gasped.

  Brighton picked up roughly twenty coins and put it back in the bag.

  ‘I’ll keep this. As for the rest of it, I have an idea. I want you to help me with something,’ Brighton said to Peter.

  The old man frowned and said, ‘I’m listening.’

  ‘You know we want to go back to the Dark Land to help Queen Ashley with development. I want to use this money to buy horses, wagons and tools to get us started,’ Brighton replied.

  ‘What would you need me for?’ Peter asked.

  ‘You know more about horses than I do. I would appreciate some help in selecting good horses for breeding. I want to establish a farm so that we can grow vegetables, raise goats and breed horses. It will provide work, teach the people new skills and we will have goods to trade for other items. If I have someone on this side handling the trade for me, it would help a lot,’ Brighton explained.

  He turned to Brac and asked, ‘Brac, are you interested in being a part of this?’

  Brac quickly nodded and said, ‘I can help build the farm and travel between here and the Dark Land with goods.’

  ‘How would the profit be shared?’ Peter frowned.

  ‘Profit? Well, I haven’t really thought of that. Equal shares sound fair to me. What do you think?’ Brighton replied.

  Peter shook his head and said, ‘No, since you are fronting all the capital for this venture, I think a two-one-one share is more appropriate.’

  ‘What?’ Brighton and Brac said together.

  Neither of them understood what Peter had just said.

  ‘For every four coins we gain, you take two, Brac takes one and I take one. It’s fair since we are using your money while Brac and I are only contributing our time and effort,’ Peter explained. He stuck out his hand and said, ‘Agreed?’

  Brighton shook his head.

  ‘Equal shares for all three of us,’ he insisted.

  Brac stuck his hand out and said, ‘I don’t really care about the money, so it sounds good to me.’

  Peter hesitated for a moment before he said, ‘I agree, equal shares it is.’

  The three men shook hands and the partnership was formed.

  Early the following morning, the three men went to town.

  ‘Have you thought of the garrison that guards the pass?’ Brac asked Brighton.

  ‘No, I haven’t,’ Brighton admitted.

  ‘How did you get past them the last time?’ Peter enquired.

  ‘Going into the Dark Land, I simply rode past. When Lilian and I came back, we hid in the bushes close to the fort. A tree on the other side of the fort caught fire. The soldiers that were standing guard went to investigate and it gave us an opportunity to slip past,’ Brighton explained.

  ‘A tree caught fire? Just like that?’ Peter said suspiciously.

  ‘Yes, just like that,’ Brighton said with a wink.

  Peter shook his head and mumbled, ‘Magic.’

  Brac laughed and said, ‘Yes, magic.’

  Brighton pulled up his shoulders as if he did not know what they were talking about.

  Getting serious, he said, ‘I don’t think we can rely on that little trick every time we want to get past the garrison. Any ideas?’

  ‘Yes, actually I do have one,’ Peter replied.

  Brighton and Brac waited for Peter to explain his idea, but the old man just smiled.

  ‘Well, what is it?’ Brighton prodded.

  ‘I know one of the commanders at the garrison. Soldiers are not paid all that much, so a coin in the right hand will buy you safe passage. Leave it to me,’ Peter explained.

  ‘It could work, but it would be a short term solution. Eventually we will have to talk to the Fenton community leaders and enter into an official trade agreement,’ Brighton though aloud.

  ‘Yes, you’re right. We could even try to get an audience with the king of the Mountain Kin
gdom. I will work on this, don’t worry,’ Peter suggested.

  The rest of the morning was spent looking at wagons, tools and horses. After some haggling with the merchants, they bought two horses and a wagon, which they filled up almost to overflowing with all the tools they had also bought. Peter kept a tally in his head of the money they were spending.

  On the way home, he said, ‘We used four gold coins and three silvers today. I’m happy with our purchases. The horses look strong and the wagon is almost new.’

  ‘You should handle all negotiations with the merchants from now on,’ Brighton commented.

  ‘Why?’ Peter asked with a frown.

  ‘I thought we were going to pay at least eight cold coins for all of this. I don’t know how you got the merchants to lower their prices so much!’ Brighton exclaimed.

  ‘Peter also has magic,’ Brac commented, then started laughing so hard at his own joke that he almost fell off the wagon.

  Brighton and Peter joined in the laughter but it was more at Brac than at what he said. A beggar was standing in the middle of the street, his back towards them. Peter shouted for the man to move, but he remained rooted. Peter had no choice but to bring the wagon to a halt, there was no room to go around. Brighton jumped off the wagon and walked over to the beggar.

  ‘My friend, we need to…’

  The beggar spun around, made a few hand gestures and said ‘Adri’.

  He ran off without another word. Brighton watched him go, a big frown on his face.

  He climbed back on the wagon and said, ‘That was strange.’

  ‘He looked like an elf,’ Peter observed.

  ‘Yes, I thought so too,’ Brighton nodded.

  ‘What did he say to you?’

  ‘I’m not certain, it happened so fast. I think he said, “In your greatest need, trust Adri”, or something like that,’ Brighton replied.

  ‘That’s what I also saw,’ Peter said.

  ‘I wonder who he is and how he knows Adri’ Brac mused.

  ‘He is gone now, so worrying about it won’t do us much good. Let’s get home. This morning I saw Nicky packing out some baking ingredients. If I’m right, we’re getting apple-and-berry bread today,’ Peter said.

  ‘Are you sure you do not want to come with me?’ Brighton asked Lilian.

  She shook her head.

  ‘Nicky is going to teach Adri and I how to bake all kinds of nice things while you’re gone. When you come back we will have delicious treats waiting for you.’

  ‘I’m going to miss you,’ Brighton said as he hugged Lilian for the last time before climbing on the wagon.

  ‘Brac, look after them please,’ Brighton said as he got the wagon going.

  The group watched until the wagon disappeared around a corner.

  ‘Well, I should get going too. The king and queen are in Ogila for a few days and that is two days by horse from here. Perhaps I will be lucky and get an audience with them,’ Peter said as he got on his horse.

  ‘Be safe,’ Nicky whispered as she waved goodbye.

  As Brighton approached the fort, he spotted only one guard. The man waved him closer.

  ‘Are you Brighton?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, I am.’

  The man waved him past.

  ‘I hope you know what you’re doing!’ he shouted after the wagon.

  Brighton made steady progress and five days later, he was standing at the spot he had pointed out to Lilian the last time they were here.

  ‘Yes, this will do,’ he said to himself.

  He hid the wagon in some dense undergrowth and saddled up one of the horses. A water skin, knapsack with food and his cane were tied to the saddle. Brighton tied the other horse’s reins to the saddle and set off.

  Four days later, he rode into Zedonia. People stared at him on top of the horse. He tried to ask where he could find Queen Ashley, but everybody ran away as soon as he got too close. He realised that the horses must scare these people since they have never seen animals like these, so he dismounted, tied the horses to a tree and walked away a few steps. An elderly man approached him.

  ‘Excuse me sir, what kind of animals are those?’ the man asked politely.

  ‘Horses,’ Brighton replied with a smile.

  ‘Horses,’ the man repeated, wide eyed.

  ‘Tell me, where can I find Queen Ashley?’ Brighton asked.

  ‘She uses the old High Council hall to see petitioners. She is there now, I just saw her,’ the old man replied, still not taking his eyes off the horses.

  ‘Thank you,’ Brighton replied.

  Since it was not that far, he decided to walk instead of ride the horse to the town centre. The only thing he took with him was the walking stick Peter had given him.

  There was a long line of people waiting to get into the hall.

  Brighton walked to a soldier and said, ‘I need to see Queen Ashley. Are all these people here for the same reason?’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ the soldier replied.

  Brighton’s shoulders dropped. It looked like it would take all day to get into the hall. He did not want to waste time but it was important to speak to Ashley, so he joined the back of the line. Another soldier came up to the one Brighton had just spoken to and whispered urgently to him. The two men stared at Brighton for a while and then one of them slowly walked closer. Looking like he was ready to flee at any moment, the man stopped a few paces from Brighton.

  ‘Are you Brighton of Clareton?’ he asked in a trembling voice.

  ‘Yes, I am,’ Brighton replied with a smile.

  ‘A few days ago, Queen Ashley gave an order that you must be taken to her immediately if anybody should meet you somewhere,’ the man said.

  He was ready to run at the slightest sign of aggression from Brighton.

  ‘That’s marvellous!’ Brighton exclaimed excitedly.

  ‘So, you will come with us willingly?’ the man frowned.

  ‘Yes, of course. I want to see the queen urgently,’ Brighton replied.

  The man did not move.

  ‘Why don’t you lead the way and I’ll follow,’ Brighton suggested.

  ‘Uh… yes, that sounds good,’ the soldier replied.

  The man turned around and headed for a side entrance to the hall, looking over his shoulder often. Brighton stayed well back; he did not want to make the soldier any more nervous than he already was. The man opened the door and spoke a few words to a soldier on the inside.

  ‘Commander Donic will take you to Queen Ashley,’ the soldier said to Brighton and rushed off.

  ‘Follow me,’ Donic said to Brighton.

  A row of tables was placed from one wall to the other, dividing the hall into two sections. Scores of people lined up in front of the tables waiting to see Queen Ashley or one of her advisors. Twenty soldiers stood behind the tables, discouraging any trouble. Ashley was sitting at one of these tables, deep in conversation with a man.

  ‘Wait here,’ Donic instructed Brighton as he walked up to her and whispered in her ear.

  Queen Ashley nodded and continued her conversation with the man in front of her. Almost all the soldiers recognised Brighton. He noticed some of them feeling for their swords or checking their knives. Tension showed on their faces. Brighton waited patiently for the queen. She got up, spoke briefly to a man sitting at the table next to hers and then turned to face Brighton. Slowly she walked towards him, holding out her hand in greeting.

  Brighton took the slender, elegant hand, went to one knee and said, ‘Queen Ashley, so good to see you again.’

  The soldiers relaxed a little.

  ‘Brighton, it’s good to see you too,’ Ashley replied.

  ‘I need to speak with you, if you have time,’ Brighton said.

  ‘Of course. Shall we take a walk? I feel like getting some fresh air,’ Ashley suggested.

  Brighton bowed his head in agreement and followed her out of the hall. Side by side, they strolled down the street followed by five soldiers. Brighton waited respect
fully for Ashley to start the conversation.

  ‘I did not think we would ever see you again, Brighton,’ Ashley said.

  ‘I swore an oath to you. I always keep an oath,’ Brighton replied.

  Ashley smiled and said, ‘You are the most powerful and feared man in all of Mendin. I’m glad to know you don’t harbour any ill feelings towards us.’

  ‘Mendin?’ Brighton frowned.

  ‘Oh yes, you probably haven’t heard. We named this land Mendin,’ Ashley explained.

  ‘That’s a good name. Where are Mendin’s borders?’ Brighton asked.

  ‘The two seas north and south and the two mountain ranges east and west,’ Ashley replied.

  Brighton nodded. For these people, it was the known world; nothing else existed.

  ‘What did you want to talk to me about?’ Ashley asked.

  ‘I have a plan to help you develop Mendin,’ Brighton answered.

  He told Ashley everything that had happened since they last saw each other. She was fascinated by the story, asking a few carefully selected questions. As they rounded a corner, all five soldiers drew their swords and positioned themselves in front of Ashley. Brighton looked up but could not see any danger, just the horses where he had left them.

  ‘My queen, please return to the town hall. We will take care of these beasts,’ the commander said over his shoulder.

  Brighton stepped forward, put his hand on the man’s shoulder and said, ‘You can lower your weapons. These are horses, they will not harm you.’

  When the soldiers did not react, Ashley said, ‘Do as Brighton says.’

  The soldiers reluctantly put their swords away, but kept themselves between Ashley and the horses.

  ‘They are very protective,’ Brighton observed.

  Commander Donic answered proudly, ‘We have all sworn to give our lives before any harm would reach our queen.’

  ‘These five men have decided that they are my personal protectors,’ Ashley smiled.

  ‘We are The Royal Protectors. We are the best swordsmen in Mendin,’ Donic said.