The priest's hand darted out and grabbed Byrn by the wrist before he could follow his father's instructions. The boy jumped in surprise at the unbelievably quick movement.
“No need,” said the healer, “I was merely lost in thought as I am prone to do from time to time. I am deeply sorry for any undue concern I may have caused.”
“We are just glad you are well,” Marian offered politely, “but why are you standing outside our window.”
The sorcerer noticed the sign of the door when he first arrived and guessed them to be messengers. “My name is Sane and I wonder if this young man could make a delivery for me?” Sane said to Byrn. He reached into his robe and pulled out an old book. It was a brown leather-bound book with a tree and root design on the cover not unlike the one on his robe. He handed it to the young courier. “Can you take this to the innkeeper at the Sleepy Crow? I can pay you ten silvers for the task.”
“Ten silvers to take this book halfway across the city?” said Byrn clearly perplexed as he hefted the thing with one hand. Such a short trip would typically only cost five silvers and then only if the delivery was of the utmost urgency.
Sane smiled at him, “Well it is a very special book called a grimoire.” Seeing no comprehension on the couriers' faces, he explained, “It is a book used by... priests to perform healing arts and is considered quite valuable.” To Tannys he said, “I guess you haven't taught him how to negotiate a price yet.”
Marian laughed and Tannys merely smirked when he said, “Sometimes his business sense is outweighed by his good nature.”
“There are worse problems for a boy to have,” Sane said. “Still it is good to know that I am putting this task in trustworthy hands.”
Byrn fetched his horse from the stables and after securing the book in his pouch left for The Sleepy Crow a minute later. He didn't understand what was so important about this delivery, but for ten silvers he dared not tarry. He rode through the streets swiftly, but cautiously as his master taught him navigating streets and alleys with the easy knowledge that comes from growing up in the city. He rode past the Flying Hammer and Anti's Leathers where the shops were just opening for the day. Anti hung leathers in his window and the smith's wife was setting the fire in the forge of The Flying Hammer. Rumor had it the shop was named for how the smith and his wife met many years earlier at a winter celebration when the drunken blacksmith got too forward with the, then, young lady.
Fifteen minutes later Byrn reached The Sleepy Crow located on the city's western edge of the trading district. The inn usually had a steady stream of patrons, being located at the entrance to the city made it convenient for those coming in as well as those interested in leaving in a hurry making it a hub for merchants and rogues alike. This day appeared to be no different as the street outside the inn was already bustling with traders loading their wares into wagons and forming caravans. Bodyguards and merchants looked on as teamsters loaded their wagons.
Byrn arrived just in time to hear the warning horn sounding. The long low wale indicated a threat directing the citizenry located outside the walls, which was most of the populace, to stay indoors or seek cover. Teamsters, traders, and bodyguards alike converged on the inn seeking shelter from whatever was about to happen creating a bottleneck at the door.
“Inside! Inside Now!” yelled Jessec, the innkeeper, motioning to Byrn who was just arriving to come into the Sleepy Crow. Jessec was a cautious man and although he didn't know what threat was coming he knew enough not to take unnecessary risks.
His training as a horseman would not allow Byrn to abandon his mount, Emma. His father taught him that a skilled courier valued the health and welfare of his horse more than his own. A healthy horse could carry a weak rider very far even long after the rider had given into fatigue. Byrn rode Emma to the Sleepy Crow's stables across from the inn before barely taking a moment to secure her in a stall before running back to the inn.
The sun blinded him for a moment as he exited the barn in his haste. It was only a second before his eyes adjusted and he could see the bulky outline of something large heading toward him with the sun at its back. As it quickly grew closer Byrn became aware that it was an ogre heading toward him. He stood like a deer caught in the sway of a lantern's light, transfixed on the thing in front of him to the exclusion of everything else. The ogre stood nearly eight feet tall and its skin was a sickly looking grayish-green. Its eyes were pure black like those of a demon sunken back in its skull and its nose was a nondescript bump with nostrils making for a decidedly inhuman visage. In its massive fist it held a large tree branch that it brandished like a club.
The ogre swung its club once it was within reach of the boy and its massive weapon smashed into the ground at Byrn's feet just as the courier’s survival instincts kicked in and he leapt backwards. The force of the blow was enough to shake the ground and knock Byrn off his feet. He scrambled on his hands and knees back into the stable as the ogre readied its tree club for another swing. Once in the stable Byrn got to his feet and hurriedly unlatched Emma's stall door and climbed on her still saddled back.
The ogre hunched over to fit into the stable and catch his prey only to see it ride out the doors on the other side. Enraged the ogre ran through the barn after the boy hitting its head and denting the top of the doorframe as it exited. The beast was stunned for a moment, but would not be denied. Its anger at the momentary setback only served to fuel its rage, focusing it on the young man galloping away.
As Byrn fled his pursuer, he wished uselessly that he had brought his sword... or a bow... or even a rock... Mere minutes had passed since the alarm sounded and already the streets were nearly empty. Byrn was thankful for this since it allowed him to ride at full speed and outpace the ogre. Quickly he began to formulate a plan as he increased the distance, but failed to convince the ogre to end its pursuit. He led the beast deeper into the city heading toward the market district. Although the main guard station was at the opposite end of the city there were smaller stations established throughout Colum and the one in the market district was the largest to keep the petty thieves from overrunning the markets, and there was no shortage of weapons dealers either who might be willing to lend a blade to any willing to face the brute and protect their own shops in the process.
The ogre yelled its rage renewing the charge as Byrn kept widening the gap leading the ogre through the streets. The big beast smashed into carts and homes as he chased the young rider losing ground. Grabbing a cart as it ran the ogre flung it at its query barely missing the young man's head.
The saddlebag thumped against the horse's side in rhythm with her gallop. Byrn felt very aware of the bag with Sane's book in it. It almost seemed as if it was calling to him offering him strength and guidance. Byrn pushed the strange thought aside to focus on the more pressing matter of the gargantuan beast barreling down on him.
The galloping horse was faster in the wide-open streets, but the ogre could take sharp turns faster and had more endurance than the aging Emma. The ogre was now closing the distance and was about to catch Byrn before he could reach the guard station. The ogre tried to swat Byrn with its club, but lost ground when it tried to swing with any force. After a second failed swing the ogre switched its target to the horse. Instead of trying to knock Byrn off of Emma the ogre swung low and took the horse's hind legs out from underneath her sending both the rider and animal tumbling one over the other.
When they were done falling over each other Emma laid atop Byrn with a hind leg broken. Luckily, Byrn was unharmed except for a few minor scrapes and bruises. Perhaps somewhat less fortunate was the fact that Byrn was pinned under the injured animal and a mighty ogre was standing over him. Its lungs heaved in exhaustion while a sick grin graced its lips as it looked down upon its defenseless prey. Ogres were not known for their intelligence, but Byrn would later swear that the monster was gloating. The ogre raised its tree club high into the sky pointing upward grabbing it tightly with both hands. Byrn knew if the blow connected an
d there was no reason to think that it would not, he would be dead.
At least it will be quick, he thought.
The blow came down and Byrn couldn't help closing his eyes and turning away, but the deathblow never came. Byrn looked up to see a man dressed in full plate armor standing between him and the snarling ogre. Byrn briefly wondered if this was the war god, Vailon, with his shining armor in the mid-morning sun come to save him. The shining man stood between Byrn and the ogre holding his warhammer with one hand on the butt and the other by the head parallel to the ogre's club that was now at the ogre's side after the knight had deflected the killing strike.
“Can you get free, lad?” the knight grunted readying his war-hammer for the ogre's next attack. He did not wait for an answer as the ogre swung horizontally at the knight barely missing his head as the warrior ducked. The monster overextended its swing missing its target and leaving itself open for retaliation. The shining knight rammed his hammer into the monster's ribcage pushing it back and giving him enough room for a follow up strike to the ogre's kneecap hoping to knock it off balance or break its knee outright.
Pushing and lifting his horse ever so slightly, Byrn was able to pull free his trapped leg. He could see more guards coming in the distance, but they were on foot and would not arrive in time to stop the ogre if it got the upper hand against the gleaming knight. Byrn found that he had circled back and was near The Flying Hammer for the second time that morning. Uma, the smith's wife, hollered for Byrn and tossed him a simple, but well made sword that he deftly caught by the hilt.
Locked in combat with the fully armored warrior, the ogre paid Byrn no mind allowing him to circle behind it and deliver a deep stab to its back. The beast howled in anger spinning to face Byrn as he pulled the blade free. Seizing the opportunity the knight, now at the beast’s back, hit the wound Byrn inflicted causing a new wave of pain coursing throughout its body driving it to the ground. It rolled to one side so that it could face both attackers at the same time and protect its bleeding wound like an injured animal.
Gripping its club the ogre swung widely, knocking Byrn to the ground and leaving him momentarily dazed, but merely pushing the armored warrior a few steps back. The ogre got back on his feet and seeing that Byrn was now at a disadvantage it went after him. The knight tried to close the distance between them, but he was too late. Byrn's vision was filled with bright stars, but he could see enough to understand that the ogre's club was coming down squarely on him. He raised his hands and wished for a shield to deflect the killing blow before involuntarily closing his eyes.
The knight could hardly believe what he saw. A red mist was swirling around the boy and the ogre. The club seemed to come down onto the lad and then it bounced off of... nothing.
A magician.
Although he was momentarily surprised the knight regained his wits and delivered a devastating blow to the monster's side with such strength that he lifted the beast off the ground to land hard on its side. His next swing came in low and arched high catching the ogre's chin breaking its jaw and snapping its head back like a rag doll. To the beast's credit it survived a blow that would have killed most other creatures, but it was defeated and would not rise again. Lifting his weapon over his head the shining knight said, “You fought well, ogre,” and brought the warhammer down on its skull with an audible smack caving it in and ending the massive monster's life.
With danger averted the knight went to one knee from sheer exhaustion. He looked to Byrn, “Are you alright, son?”
“Yes, sir knight, amazingly I am.” Byrn patted himself down as if to verify that he survived unscathed.
“Please call me Kellen. I tend to be on a first name basis with anyone brave enough to fight an ogre.”
Byrn stared in disbelief once he recognized the man. He should not have been surprised that the shining knight was none other than Knight-Captain Kellen. In addition to being a military strategist and the captain of the city guard he was as fine a warrior, as the city had ever known. He was a shining example, quite literally, of what a knight and champion should be.
“And you are?” Kellen gently prodded.
“I am sorry, knight-captain. I was not expecting to find out I was fighting side by side with the great Knight-Captain Kellen. It is quite an honor.” Then in an afterthought, Byrn gave the warrior his name.
“You fought well, Byrn. Not every man would willingly stand against an ogre, but you're not like other men are you?” Kellen's expression suggested more than his words entailed.
Byrn only stared at him questioningly unsure of what the knight-captain was hinting at.
Kellen leaned in, “It is alright. I know you are a magician. You've proven your valor to me. I will not turn you in as long as you remain on the path of right and do not endanger others.”
If Byrn was not confused already, he certainly was now. He was no more a magician than was Kellen. “Why do you-?” but Byrn could not finish. The platoon of guardsmen he spotted earlier had finally reached them. He did not know why Kellen thought that he was a magician, but they could not discuss it now. If he was even suspected of being a magician he would surely be thrown into a deep dark hole or worse hung in the city's square.
Byrn's eyes wandered to the west and off in the distance he could see one of the four spires that marked the walls of Baj, the prison for deadly magicians, a few hours away on foot. Living so close it was the subject of many scary bedtime stories and childish dares of Colum's younger citizens. It suddenly felt far more menacing than Byrn ever imagined it to be as a young boy.
Chapter 4
Sane breathed a heavy sigh of relief. The ogre was dead, but more importantly Kellen was not. At first he didn't understand the vision of Byrn fighting the ogre outside the temple of Ashura, but as he relived the moments leading up to Kellen's death it became clear. It was the last image that stuck most clearly in the sorcerer's mind of the young man standing outside the temple facing down the mammoth beast as the sick and the injured-those too weak to help themselves- looked on. In that moment he knew that the young man was the key to saving his friend.
Oftentimes, Sane's visions were not literal and he had to decipher their hidden meanings to prevent whatever horror his dreams foretold. It was not immediately apparent, but Sane figured out that Byrn was standing in for Kellen facing the ogre in his place. He was at the temple of Ashura, the goddess of life, because if he were to face the monster Kellen would live.
And it worked. Byrn did not defeat the beast directly, but he was able to give Kellen the support he needed to come out of the fight alive, unharmed, and completely unaware of the fate he avoided, but Sane wondered if that would be enough. There may be more at work here than even his future sight foretold.
Sane saw Byrn walking his horse to The Sleepy Crow. It's hind leg was broken in the battle with the ogre, but one of the temple priests who arrived sometime after the platoon of guardsmen was able to mend the injury well enough so that his mount could walk if only just barely. The healers were known for being miracle workers, but there were still limitations to what they could accomplish. Emma would not be able to support a rider for at least a week or two after suffering such an injury.
Sane admired Byrn's persistence. Less than an hour before he was fighting for his life. Now he was back on task delivering a strange looking book to an innkeeper as if nothing had happened. The sorcerer briefly wondered if the grimoire had been of any help to the young rider.
The grimoire was enchanted with a luck charm increasing the luck of any who held it. Its main uses were as a collection of spells and knowledge and as a focusing point for spell casting, but the old sorcerer found a little bit of luck never hurt when magic was involved. Byrn did not actually touch the grimoire during the fight, but if Sane was right about his magical talent he might have been able to draw on the enchantment if he was close enough. That would explain how he survived the tumble with the horse relatively unharmed and may also explain how Byrn created the protective s
hield although Sane was fairly sure he did that by unconsciously tapping into the blood source and using the wounded ogre’s own life energy against it.
With the proper training the boy could become a great sorcerer. Of course, he would have to hide his identity until he had backing from the king or another high ranking noble, but Sane could help with that.
The sorcerer hurried through the back alleys of the city on a route nearly parallel to the courier’s. He briefly wondered what people would think seeing him running from one alleyway to the next dressed in the garb of a priest. He chuckled a little as he climbed over a fence. “Pardon me, miss,” he said hurrying past a woman doing laundry. She looked up just in time to see Sane disappear as he rounded a corner in a blur of green. He arrived at The Sleepy Crow just as Byrn was taking the grimoire out of his satchel.
“Byrn, over here,” Sane called rounding the stable and waving his hand, “Byrn!”
Hearing his name the young man turned and saw Sane motioning for him to come over. “What are you doing here?” Byrn asked, “If you were planning on coming here anyway why have me deliver your book.”
“That should be obvious. I came to find you... and to retrieve my grimoire,” said Sane extending his open hand to take the book.
Byrn handed it over. The battle with the ogre was still heavy on his mind. He replayed the events in his head. The ogre's tree club was racing to smash into him. He turned his face at the last second and felt a shudder like a sword being deflected by a shield. When Byrn looked back to the beast he saw it being beaten and killed by the knight-captain.
He thought that Kellen stepped in at the last moment and protected him just as he had done before, but then the knight accused him of being a magician. The idea was ludicrous, but nevertheless distressing. Everyone knew that magicians were evil people corrupted by dark power. That is why they were considered criminals in most of the known world even going so far as to be eradicated at birth in some countries. However, Kellen did not seem to mind thinking that Byrn could use magic. That was a strange stance for someone sworn to uphold the laws of the land. He wished he could have questioned the knight about it before more of Kellen's fellow guardsmen arrived.
Rogue Magician (The Magician Rebellion) Page 3