The Sartious Mage (The Rhythm of Rivalry)

by B. T. Narro

  The King answered for him, “All of it must be consumed for it to work.”

  I didn’t like that, didn’t trust it at all. I had a few other tests ready, though. “What’s in it?” I asked.

  “How am I supposed to know?” the King replied. If he was feigning anger, he did it well. “I told my chemists to make it, so they did.”

  I tried my next question. “How do you know it’ll work?”

  “Because my chemists said it will.” His answer was quick, rehearsed. I was feeling more skeptical in each passing moment. Vague answers, quick to be angered…it felt as if I was being lied to.

  Lisanda surprised me with something we hadn’t planned. “I can tell when my father is lying.” She gently took the potion from me and wiggled off the cork. “Father, if I drink this, what will happen?”

  Lisanda brought it under her nose and took an audible sniff. She had no reaction. I figured it had no smell.

  “Then you’ll waste the cure.” The King folded his arms, his white and gold robe dancing in the light breeze. “And you’ll probably be sick.”

  Lisanda had her head tilted to the side. I couldn’t see her eyes, but by the way she leaned toward her father, it seemed as if she was studying him. She brought the potion to her lips and began to tilt her head back but stopped before consuming any. Her father let his arms drop and opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped himself when she did. He clumsily folded his arms once again.

  “Lisanda, why are you doing this?” I saw the anger this time, making it clear he was pretending before. This was real frustration. I could hear his desperation. “Give the cure to Jek so we can be done with this.”

  Lisanda moved the potion to her mouth again. This time she tilted back, closed her lips around it, and let some flow in.

  “Don’t swallow it!” her father yelled, his body taken over by panic. “It’s poison!”

  Lisanda spewed the milky liquid from her mouth.

  “Quick, get her the antidote!” The King frantically gestured at the guards behind him.

  “Poison?” I yelled in disgust.

  “How could you try to poison him?” Lisanda’s voice was soft, heavy with shame. A guard ran toward her with another potion. She waved her hands at him. “I spit it out. I don’t need the antidote.”

  “Take it, Lisanda! A small amount can kill you!”

  Lisanda shared a glance with me, showing me her revulsion. “I can’t believe my father,” she muttered.

  “It’s not your fault. Take the antidote.”

  An explosion of light startled me. Heat burst against my face, and I tumbled backward, pulling Lisanda down with me on reflex.

  We untangled our limbs as I tried to figure out what had happened. The guard with the antidote was no longer in front of us. Panicked murmurs flooded my ears from what seemed like all directions.

  Then I found the guard’s body. It was ten yards from where it had been, charred like an overcooked piece of meat. My mind pieced the clues together—some massive fireball must’ve hit him. The bottle carrying the antidote was gone, no doubt shattered by the blow.

  “Now you can watch your daughter die at your own doing, my king.” The voice came from atop the hill…Exo.

  “Who in Bastial hell are you?” Danvell Takary screamed.

  “Don’t recognize my face?” Exo turned to wave his wand at Lisanda and me. “That’s their fault. All of this is their fault.”

  “It’s Exo, Father. He’s gone mad!” Lisanda yelled.

  “Exo!” Recognition hit the King’s face. “Drop your wand and let Lisanda come to me. We need to rush her back to the palace for an antidote.”

  Exo hummed, mimicking deliberation. “No, I think not,” he answered playfully.

  “You feel anything?” I whispered to Lisanda, moving my body between her and Exo.

  “No, I think I’m fine,” she whispered back.

  “Exo,” I called to him. “It’s not our fault you burned yourself out of the chains. Why didn’t you just wait for the guards to come release you?” I knew reasoning with him most likely was futile, but I figured it was worth a try.

  “Because this was his last chance,” the King answered for him. “After all his mistakes—as we’ve generously been calling them—he was about to be replaced by you, Jek, if you’d cooperated. Now look at this mess.”

  The King turned his focus to his daughter. “Are you feeling anything, Lisanda? We really must get you to the palace.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Exo interrupted, the teasing playfulness gone completely.

  “Dammit, Exo. We don’t have time for this.” Danvell spun around to his guards.

  Raising his voice so Exo could hear him, he yelled, “Take Exo in! If he aims his wand at you, kill him.”

  Exo lifted his hands toward the sky. “I’ll cooperate. Just let me say one thing and this can end peacefully.”

  “Hold.” The King stopped the guards and then glanced at his daughter. “Dear, are you well?”

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  The King gave one shake of his finger at Exo. Gritting his teeth, Danvell said, “You have one minute. Go.”

  Exo looked embarrassed for the first time I’d seen. His head hung low, and he seemed overtaken by exhaustion. “I just wanted to make you proud.” His voice was weak, like a sick child’s. “I always get the job done. I know you appreciate what I do, even though you don’t show it. I know you do. I trained my whole life to be the Bastial mage I am today, to serve you, my king.”

  Exo lifted his eyes to show they held great pain.

  The King took a step toward Exo, coming through the cordon of guards. “You’ve done good work, but you’ve also done terrible things at no one’s order but your own.”

  “They were done at your request!” The anger returned to Exo’s eyes, sharp as a knife.

  I found myself readying Sartious Energy.

  “People lie to me. People always lie to me. Their lies prevent me from following your orders. They hide people I need to find. So I make them stop lying.”

  Exo lowered his head with a proud smile. “I’m your best mage, my king.” He nearly jumped as he jabbed his finger toward me. “And now you want to replace me with him, some kid!” His scream was manic, void of sanity. “Some bastard mage who doesn’t even appreciate the gift of magic that he has! He wants to be cured of it. He’s an idiot, a child.

  “And Lisanda is the same way. This would’ve been over if it weren’t for her. She protected him, stopped me from killing him. I should’ve known the stupid bitch didn’t want to see the pretty farm boy hurt.”

  “That’s enough,” the King said, surprising me with a calm tone. “You can talk to me more later. I’ll listen to everything you want to say. Put down your wand, keep your hands behind your back, and let us take you in.”

  “I’m not done!” I could feel Exo’s aggression ready to burst.

  I looked back at Lisanda. Her eyes seemed unfocused, looking past me absently. “Lisanda, are you feeling alright?”

  “I’ve always thought of you as a father, my king.” Exo was on his knees, holding his hands out as if pleading. “Don’t throw away what we have after I’ve spent my whole life training and serving you. No mage can replace me.” He sounded as if he was about to weep as he continued. “This child is a Sartious mage. His skill with Bastial Energy is nowhere near mine. Heat is far more effective! You must understand that?”

  “Not for what we need in the King’s Mage,” Danvell answered with a quiet and soothing voice, reminding me of Sannil’s fatherly tone. “I’m sorry, Exo. I can’t have you serving on my staff any longer.”

  I kept my eyes on Lisanda. She didn’t seem to be aware of me, and terror was beginning to take hold of my heart. “Lisanda?” I took her hand. Her face fell to it, but she said nothing. Her head wavered, and then she looked up at me.

  “Something’s wrong,” she managed to get out.

  I turned and screamed, “Lisanda’s not wel
l!”

  “Bring her over here!” Her father motioned for the guards. They swarmed toward me, and I gladly held Lisanda for them. She seemed to be having trouble staying on her feet.

  My heart dropped when I felt a surge of Bastial Energy gusting past me toward Exo—he was pulling it in to cast a spell.

  “Watch out!” I yelled.

  The guards turned to the hill. Exo had his wand aimed down at them.

  “Let her die!” he yelled. And with that, a fireball the size of a boulder took shape before him and hurled toward us with frightening speed. I created a Sartious shell around Lisanda and me, but I didn’t have enough energy to protect the others.

  The two female mages created their own shells, but they were too thin to stop such a force. The boulder of fire exploded into the cluster of guards, creating a terrible mixture of sizzling flesh and yelps of death. I focused to keep my Sartious shell intact as the snarling fire scraped against it like a mad dog.

  The heat was almost too much to bear, singeing the hairs on my hand as I held my wand steady. I screamed to keep focus as I dealt with the pain.

  Lisanda crumpled to the ground behind me…but I knew it couldn’t have been the fire. She had been too far from it.

  I spun around and her wavering head found my eyes. “I’m sorry for blue…for you.”

  I heard battle cries behind me—the rest of the guards charging up the hill toward Exo. I was too worried about Lisanda to look. I knelt down, holding her cheeks. “Lisanda, stay strong. I’ll get you back to the palace.”

  “You stay…” Her voice became a whisper. “Horse.”

  She was deteriorating fast. Tears burst from my eyes. It pained me so much to see her losing her mind and dying before me. I nudged my shoulder under her stomach, ready to hoist her up, but she screamed and pushed me away.

  “Stomach!” she yelled, grabbing hold of it. “Hurts!”

  The King was shouting orders. Exo was screaming. Fire was exploding. I could feel the heat against my back. But I saw none of it.

  I picked up Lisanda like a bride and turned to see if I could move her safely to one of the King’s carriages. My hope was shattered when I found there were only two guards left, both warriors with a sword and a shield, standing in front of Danvell. Scattered around the base of the hill were blackened bodies.

  I knew better than to try running to the King and his carriage with Lisanda. Exo had an eye on us. The other was on the warriors protectively pushing Danvell away from the hill, pushing him farther from us as well.

  One of the warriors spun and ran for the bow of a fallen archer, but Exo unleashed a man-sized fireball that soared downward at blinding speed, striking the man in the chest. Because of the angle, the warrior’s body was flung to the ground so hard it was as if a tree had fallen on him. He didn’t get up.

  “Move back, my king,” the other man in steel said, still shoving Danvell Takary away.

  “Lisanda needs the antidote!” her father screamed, clawing the air in my direction. “Bring her here.”

  Exo produced a wicked smile. “She dies. It’s what she deserves. She never obeyed you like I did, my king. I saw her fight every command you gave.” His whole body tensed as he angrily pointed at himself with his thumb. “I followed every order. I did what no one else could. She would never do what I did for you. She could never. And neither will Jek.”

  I’d moved back and set Lisanda down on the grass where I figured she would be out of Exo’s range. With no time to spare, I ran toward the hill, gathering all the SE I could.

  “King Danvell, have your guard fetch Lisanda!” I shouted to him. “I’ll handle Exo.”

  The mad mage let out a childlike laugh, a high giggle that made him seem giddy. Then, as quickly as it had erupted, his excitement evaporated, leaving just a serious stare.

  “Before we play, there’s something I want to do.” Quicker than I was prepared for, he thrust his wand out and a hot gust of Bastial wind lifted me from my feet, causing me to tumble down the hill I’d just begun to climb.

  Disoriented, I felt Bastial Energy passing by, knowing he was gathering for a fireball. I created a Sartious shell around me. But to my surprise, he sent the fireball hurling in another direction—toward the King and his guard. Though, I saw the guard wasn’t there anymore as he already was rushing toward Lisanda.

  The fireball exploded near Danvell’s feet, sending him soaring. With his loose white robe, he looked almost like a dove until he crashed into the ground, tumbling three times before coming to a stop. He got to his feet and stumbled farther away, screaming out a flood of curses and holding his wrist.

  Exo cast another fireball, and again I thought it was at me. But it sailed over my head, finding the guard far behind me. The swirling ball of orange and yellow connected with the guard’s body. I didn’t waste another moment watching to see if he would get up. I knew he wouldn’t.

  Before Exo could test his luck shooting at Lisanda, I sent my own fireball his way. It was difficult to aim up the hill, and my fireball sailed over his head. He ducked, though he didn’t need to, and looked somewhat surprised before a twisted grin took over his lipless mouth.

  “My turn,” he said, standing and flicking his wand at me. It wasn’t his largest fireball, about the size of my torso, so it was easy to block with a Sartious shell. The emerald green energy floating in front of my outstretched wand sucked up the fire, glistening as the sizzles quieted.

  I kept the shell hovering a few feet in front of me as I trudged up the hill. Exo grunted and sliced his wand through the air. He broke my Sartious shell, turning it into dust. But in just a blink, I reformed it. He tried again, screaming as he cut his wand vertically. A tear came across the shell, but I kept my mind focused and my wand steady, melding it back together before Exo could ready another fireball.

  Figuring out he couldn’t disrupt my Sartious Energy, he concentrated on Bastial instead, pulling in a great deal of it.

  Knowing this was my chance, I quickly tried to create my own fireball. I knew that as long as I could cast it faster than him I could take him out. It didn’t have to be large. I just had to hit him.

  But with sudden terror I found I didn’t have enough Bastial Energy at the ready. He’d managed to suck too much of it away from me. So I stuck with the SE, focusing on thickening the turtle-shaped shell I kept hovered in front of my wand.

  Exo let out a river of fire that rolled down the hill at me. I turned my long shell sideways and crouched to make sure it was pressed against the ground. The fire crashed against it, slipping around the sides and falling down the rest of the hill, but none made it through to my body. The moment it passed, I continued up the incline.

  Exo no longer could hide his exhaustion. He was covered in sweat, breathing fiercely.

  “Why won’t you die?” he yelled, shooting a meager fireball that easily was absorbed.

  I was nearly to the top of the hill. He drew a knife from his belt and ran at me. Completely shocked, I hadn’t prepared any Bastial Energy. The Sartious shell was only strong enough to stop the fire, not a man’s body. I would need ten times the density of SE to create a wall he couldn’t break through.

  Knowing I didn’t have the time I needed to gather enough SE to stop him, I hurried to crunch all the energy already floating in front of my wand into a small, sharp point.

  I was just as exhausted as Exo, but I needed something to stop him. I figured he would stop if he saw a sharp floating object blocking his path.

  My heart jumped when I found that I hadn’t squeezed enough SE together in time. He crashed right through the short point I’d tried to make, swinging the knife at me.

  I barely managed to roll out of the way and turned expecting him to circle around. But it seemed as if he’d tripped. He was sliding down the hill face first, the knife no longer in his hand. I gathered Bastial Energy and prepared a fireball, but then I stopped when I saw the streak of blood trailing him…and that he wasn’t moving.

  Rolling
down the hill after him was the short emerald point I’d made, hard as a rock. It looked like an arrowhead. I had managed to make it in time! And he’d run right through it!

  Relief came through me for just one beat of my heart and then terror took over…Lisanda!

  “Bastard broke my wrist!” Danvell Takary yelled. “Help me with Lisanda.” He was dragging her toward the carriages with one arm.

  I already was running down the hill as quickly as my legs could carry me, giving only a glance at Exo as I passed. He was face down with blood seeping from a hole through his chest and back—just as dead as the bodies around him.

  Chapter 32: Rush

  Though Lisanda’s body was limp and her mind was elsewhere, she was still conscious as I carried her to the carriage. I laid her along the bench in back.

  “I’m coming with you,” I stated firmly before the King had a chance to tell me otherwise.

  “Who do you think is driving the horse? Grab the reins.” He sat next to Lisanda, putting her head on his lap.

  I had plenty of experience driving one horse with a carriage, but never anything like this. I was in the heavy royal carriage about to control two massive horses that looked as ready to go as we were, fidgeting back and forth impatiently. A thought came to ask the King to switch with me, but then I remembered his broken wrist. I could do this. I had to.

  Soon, we were flying down the road so fast I wasn’t sure I could get comfortable with the way the trees blurred. But Danvell urged me to go faster, so I did. Driving two horses at this speed was like singing a difficult song I’d never tried before. I had all the skill I needed to get through it smoothly, but without practice I fumbled here and there.

  Most of my mistakes were corrected easily, like veering to the side of the road instead of staying in its center. But before we even reached the wall of The Nest, I sent the horses a few yards off the road completely. The carriage bumped about violently, and the King yelled at me to put more force into my turns.

  He was murmuring something to Lisanda most of the time, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying over the sound of the horses galloping.