The sword could have been explained in much the same way. For all purposes, he had hired Seth to make it and Seth would tell anyone who asked that he used metal that he had brought over from the homeland. In the end, Thad decided to keep it simple, but the way he had to make it work was anything but simple. Most the time when he enchanted an item, he only had to engrave a spell on the item and link the gem to the spell so that it could power it. If he did it that way, then as the spell was used, the power in it would weaken momentarily as the gem drew in more energy. Thad couldn’t keep that from happening completely, but by linking many smaller gems to the main one he could make it such a small fluctuation that no would could see it. Beside the simple protection spells that would push against any force directed at it, Thad added two other spells that would mask the ethereal energy that the armor used and one that linked the armor to Thuraman. That took a long time to figure out as the staff’s ethereal lines had been long since set in how they moved.
Thad was amazed every time he looked upon Thuraman with his magical sight. He didn’t think that if he tried for a thousand years that he could reproduce the effect. The staff had moved past a normal enchantment and become a life of its own. As Thad watched the staff’s pulsing lines of energy, it reminded him of the veins in the body that carried blood. In the end, Thurman had to make the initial connection and Thad just had to use his mind to reinforce the connection. The connection to Thuraman didn’t add anything to the armor itself, but would allow the staff to act in a limited manner, through the armor, to heal Thad if it was needed.
Once the armor was completely finished, Thad went back to work on the sword with vigor, hoping to have it finished before he moved up another rank; but having to work on two pieces of metal at once was taking much longer than he would have thought. About the time of his fourth battle in the third rank, the metal was ready to be combined. Just like when he folded the metal, Thad pored magic into the metal as he shaped it. Once the softer metal was shaped to look like the sword, Thad started to work the harder and more brittle metal where the blade would be. That would make the blade itself more flexible and allow it to move with the power of the swing without worry about breaking, but also allow a sharp blade that could cut through a tree without losing its edge. The blending of the metal also gave the edge a beautiful look like when oil spread across the surface of water in the morning sun. The blending was a slow process and took far longer than Thad would have expected, but one started he couldn’t stop without making an inferior blade.
When Thad finally set down the hammer, the sun had long past set and the moon hung high in the night sky. He had no fight the next day and there was no rule about having to practice daily, though he felt bad about missing one, but given the state of his body he doubted that he would be of much use with any weapon for a few days.
Though completely worn out, Thad lifted the blade to his new sword so that he could look at it in the moon light. The blade was just short of four feet long and it had a slight curve to it. The tang of the blade was smaller than was common, but Thad knew that it wouldn’t break… at least not without great force. The hilt had been finished for days and had been done by Seth since it didn’t require any magic. It was a simple design and was a foot long and had a circular guard to protect his fingers and hand.
Thad took the armor with him, but left the sword with Seth so it could be delivered to the arena since he still wasn’t high enough level to carry it with him.
The walk back to the house felt much longer with his body pushed past the point of exhaustion. He was proud of what he had accomplished and he felt his chances to get into the champion level fights would come, though not as soon as he wished.
When he reached his house, Thad found that only the scions were still awake. Then again, the scions never slept. He gave them a slight wave before heading back to his own room to fall into a deep sleep.
He was so tired that even in his dreams he didn’t notice the darkness swarm around him and pull him off. Like many times before, he found himself in the room he had shared with his wife in the Farlan palace. He expected to see Maria when he turned around, but he was surprised to see both his wife and Sandra sitting there.
“What honor brings the two most beautiful women in the realms to see me?” Thad asked with a bright smile.
“Such flattery,” Maria said with a weak smile. “In my youth I might have stood beside my daughter, but I fear age has not treated me as kindly as it has you.”
It was true that there was a little more silver in Maria’s hair and lines had started to find their way onto her face, but she looked as lovely today as she had when he had first met her. In many ways she was much more beautiful as when he had first met her; she was more a spoil child who flirted in awkward ways. “Nonsense dear, you’re lovelier now then you have ever been,” Thad said, meaning every word of it and bringing a slight blush to her face.
“If you two are done trying your best to turn my stomach, we are here for a reason mother,” Sandrea said with a dour face, though Thad could have sworn he noticed a smile shining in her eyes.
“That we have,” Maria said, her face turning as emotionless as stone. Thad always shivered when he saw her do that. Not just because he liked her smile, but because she only used it when she was talking about business. “Crusher has gotten ahold of enough of the black glass, but he needs to know what you want done with it. He wants it ready for when and if you return. We have also started sending forays through the portal to retrieve crystals, but the doorway is still unstable and as you said, only mages of decent power may go through and only then for no more than a few hours. Thankfully, crystal is easily gathered as it is everywhere from what the reports say. The real problem is that tower of yours.”
“Are they causing trouble?” Thad asked, though from what he saw when he was watching Bren and from what other news he had received from these dream meeting, he was sure of the answer.
“Trouble would be an understatement father,” Sandrea said with a scowl. “Bren has been gone far too long and his proxy is finding it hard to keep the peace with the tower. Mother has already sent a contingent of guards to help him, but the tower grows bolder with each passing day. I am sure that soon they will try to break away.”
“That is not the worst of it,” Maria said, the hate in her voice evident. “They are sending mages to all the rulers. They claim to offer their service and knowledge, but in truth they are trying to push the kingdoms into their own vision. The fool Joren they sent here was thrown out after a few days. Tried to order me not to aid you or protect my son’s throne. He tried to convince me it was only a ploy of Bren’s to take my throne as his own.”
“That will have to be dealt with, but there is little that I can do from here,” Thad replied as he thought about the situation.
“I know you can’t do anything, but if they keep pushing it I will,” Maria said sternly. “I know you didn’t want kingdoms to interfere with the tower, but if they insist on interfering with mine, I will knock them down a few levels. When you return, you might find a hut instead of the tower you built.”
That sighed internally, but there was little he could say. He had tried to build the tower in such a way this wouldn’t happen, but men had twisted his rules and laws to fit their own ends. He should have known it would come to this. He could only hope that the peace lasted long enough for him to straighten the situation before it turned into another bloody war. “Have you talked to Bren about this?” Thad asked, hoping that his son had found a better solution than he had.
“Yes, though he didn’t seem that interested,” Maria said, the annoyance in her voice evident. “Since he doesn’t plan to come home, he said that it would be you that would have to deal with them and luckily that you were far more qualified. They only saw him as your son looking to build his own name. You, on the other hand, were their hero and founder. They would have to heed your words. In some ways, he is as naive as you were when you sat down the laws of t
he tower.”
“Then, I would suggest that you were and are my queen and I support your commands,” Thad said with an inward clutching of his chest. “Just don’t take it too far… Please dear.”
Maria smiled, though it was nothing pleasant, it was the kind of cold smile one saw on his killer before his death. Thad did his best to direct Maria’s wrath, but he knew that it was useless and soon he found himself being pulled back to himself.
CHAPTER XXII
With his sword and armor finished there was little for Thad to do but fight and train. The little enchanting he worked on wasn’t even enough to allow a break in the tedium. The only real thing he had to look forward to was the moments he got to spend with his friend Jarrod, and those had been fleeting since he moved up past rank four.
Moving from rank four to rank five took even longer as he was allowed only one fight every twenty days, and because there were fewer fighter in the higher rank, he had to wait until one of them wanted to fight; each had forty days before they were forced into a battle and most of them waited until the last moment, preferring to enjoy their time in the higher ranks. Thad still kept his sword in its sheath, though he really wanted to try out his new blade. The only time the blade had seen action was when he and Jarrod reserved a private sparing room and practiced. So far, the blade didn’t show any power that Thad could see, but he knew that many magical weapons made in the dwarven fashion only worked when they wanted to and how they wanted to, unlike when he decided the enchantments himself, such as he did with his armor.
The last sword he had made in the dwarven fashion had used energy to strike at foes. It didn’t work through thought or action and sometimes he wished it didn’t. That was one of the downsides to the weapons; they had minds of their own though not as clear as the mind that Thuraman had. At least with the staff, he could talk to it and get it to do what he wanted most of the time.
Other than fighting, Thad spent his time wandering the city. He had found a small out of the way diner that had the best meat dishes he had eaten in a long time and found himself spending a lot of time there. They had a young daughter near marrying age who would talk to him whenever he visited. At first, Thad thought she had grown sweet on him, but he quickly learned that she just enjoyed watching the battles and enjoyed talking about them.
After their daughter took an interest in him, the owners also started coming around to talk to him and to make sure that he got double portions of whatever he ordered without paying a mark more for it. It was one such day that Thad found himself at now. He had just won his fifth fight in the arena and was hoping to have his rank battle soon, and had come to celebrate his achievement along with Jarrod, who had yet to take up his offer to eat here with him.
Shortly after they had started their meal, a ruckus started from the other side of the small diner. Turning around, Thad saw a large man wearing a two handed sword strapped to his back. Thad had paid close attention to the fighters he had come across in the training area and was sure he knew most, if not all, the rank four and five fighters who were allowed the privilege to carry their weapons with them. “Do you know who that is?” Thad asked Jarrod.
“That’s Galavez,” Jarrod said with a deep frown. “He is a champion, though it has been years since he has fought in anything. Most the time he just walks around bullying the townsfolk. He has more gold than nearly anyone, but he refuses to pay for anything.”
“You dare ask me to pay to eat at this pigsty,” Galavez’s voice said, almost to accent Jarrod’s point. “I should be asking you for compensation for insulting my pallet with food that I wouldn’t feed a beggar child for fear of poisoning him.”
“Don’t,” Jarrod said, grabbing Thad’s arm as he began to stand.
Thad pulled his arm back. “I won’t just stand by why this man acts like this,” Thad said, anger clear in his voice. Thad had known men like this before and until someone showed them they wouldn’t be allowed to get away with whatever they wished, they would continue to push others around. Thad wasn’t a rank five fighter so he didn’t have the right of challenge against a champion yet, but he cared little. If the man wanted to continue this action, Thad would cut him down in the street and curse the consequences.
Thad walked over to where the man was making his fuss to the very sternly looking Seria, who owed the diner with her husband Maerius. “Is there a problem Seria?” Thad asked, walking up beside the sturdy woman.
“Nothing I can’t handle master Thad,” she said in a huff, though she didn’t make a move or ask him to leave.
“Who is this?” Galavez asked, looking at Thad as if he were an urchin. Unlike the other man, Thad didn’t carry his sword around with him unless he was going to the arena to fight. It wasn’t that he didn’t like having his sword on him, but he found that when he carried it people tended to move carefully around him and he didn’t like the feel of the eyes that lingered on him. “I would suggest that you pay me for my time and leave before I cut you down.”
“You couldn’t cut down a tree with an axe,” Thad replied tauntingly.
“That is it,” The man said, his hand reaching back for his sword. “I challenge you, as is my right. You will follow me now to the arena and if you refuse, I will burn this place to the ground and kill any who try to flee.”
“Lead the way,” Thad said as Jarrod rushed up to him. “I need to retrieve my sword, but you can be assure that I will arrive at the arena within the hour,” Thad said, after remembering that his sword rested in his house.
“Go get your rusted blade, but I won’t wait for you,” the man said with disdain. “If you don’t show, I will return and I will slaughter everyone who is in that hellhole that you called a diner.”
Thad rushed off knowing that the man was well within his rights to do just that if his challenge was refused. Though there was a bright side, if he won, he would take the place of Galavez within the Champions. He felt bad that he had used Seria for his own purposes, but he didn’t want to wait any longer to move up in the ranks.
It didn’t take him long to reach the house at a full run. After pulling on his armor and belting on his sword, Thad rushed out before anyone could ask anything about what he was about. Once outside, he slowed a bit, not wanting to tire himself before the fight, but he still kept up a steady pace knowing that thanks to his link with Thuraman, his depleted energy reserves could be restored it needed.
As he neared the arena, he noticed people running about yelling about the coming fight. It would seem that Jarrod had made sure the organizers knew that it was Thad who was fighting against Galavez and people were eager to see the battle.
Thad found his friend waiting for him at the fighter’s entrance. “I hope you can win because Galavez has declared this a fight to the death,” Jarrod said frowning.
“I will,” Thad said with determination, though he wasn’t happy about the news. So far he had moved through his matches without having to kill or seriously injuring anyone.
Jarrod held Thad’s staff out to him and sighed. “My wife will kill me if you die today,” He said with a weak smile. “She has come to enjoy your fights and has won a nice sum betting on you.”
“I didn’t think she was the kind to bet,” Thad said, taken aback.
“She is not the kind to gamble, she bets on her favorites whether she thinks they will win or not,” he said shaking his head. “Luckily she never bets above a silver mark, otherwise we would have been broke years ago.”
“What are the odds running right now?” Thad asked, hoping it would give him a hint of what kind of fight he was going to be facing.
“Nine to one against you,” Jarrod said with a weak smile. “I think their fools, but it could be worse. You are jumping up two ranks from most people’s point of view.”
“Go bet this on me,” Thad said, digging into his pouch and pulling out twelve gold marks.
“Are you sure?” Jarrod asked looking down at the large sum now weighing down his hand.
“If I lose, it’s not as if I will need the coins,” Thad said with a nervous laugh.
“True enough,” Jarrod said, patting Thad on the back before leaving him to wait on his own.
After his friend left, Thad paced back and forth nervously as he waited for the door to open. He didn’t have to wait long as he heard the loud voice announcer even from where he waited, announcing the coming battle. Shortly after the crowd died down, the door opened and Thad steeped through to see his counterpart standing on the opposite side of the arena field.
Galavez stood, sword already in hand, his eyes locked onto Thad showing nothing but contempt. It had been a long time since Thad had seen such adulterated hatred in someone’s eyes focused on him. No having one thought or another about the other man, Thad simply smiled as he let his hand slip down to the hilt of his sword. His last few fights had been hard and more than once Thad had thought about using his sword, but so far he had won without it. He didn’t think this time would be the same and not going after the man with his full effort might be the death of him. He might not like the man, but no one made it to the rank of champion and kept it without a great deal of fighting skill.
Using his thumb, Thad pushed up slightly on the swords guard, bringing the sword an inch out of the sheath. Most swords could be easily drawn from their scabbards, but the curve in Thad’s sword was greater right before the point and sometimes caused it to hang when being pulled free. Now with the tip freed, Thad wrapped his hand around the hilt and pulled the sword in one swift movement. Galavez advanced as the ring of the sword leaving the scabbard filled the air.
Crystal Throne (Book 1) Page 17