by Neil Breault
“What? Why can’t I touch it?”
“That is the way that rune is constructed. You have to add other runes to the base rune to get it to do what you want.”
Mikol grabbed the first orb he created and placed it above both of them. It stayed where he placed it.
“The orb you created is not actually an object. You just created light. It is the easiest rune to create. This is very stubborn magic. You have to create other runes to make it do what you want.”
Mikol spoke a word and waved his hand over the orbs. They blinked out of existence.
“Teach me more.”
“Like what? We still don’t have another way out.”
“Is there something quick that you can teach me to help us get out of here?”
“There is not really anything that I can teach you right now to help. If you had paid attention I might be able to have you assist with creating some complex fighting spells. But, no offense, I can’t trust you not to make a mistake.” Bayle shrugged and nodded. Mikol looked around the cave for ideas.
“We’re not sure who is out there?” asked Mikol.
“Nope.”
“If they are hostile, they will try and ambush us?”
“Definitely.”
“Ok, I have something good. Make sure you follow exactly.”
Mikol dragged four fingers down and then quickly chopped his hand across all four lines. Mikol did it again and a third time to illustrate. Bayle nodded and made the motions. Mikol gestured for him to continue making the rune.
“Good. Looks like you are getting that one right. That is important because you will not see this one manifest. Now, add the binding word ‘Vor.’”
Bayle did the motion again and spoke the word.
“What does it do?”
Bayle barely had time to flinch before Mikol threw a punch at his face. Instead of a broken nose, Mikol’s fist collided with a barrier that exploded around his hand. Pieces of the barrier evanesced as they broke.
“That’s called a quick shield. It only takes one hit before it breaks, but it will block anything.”
“How did I even make that? There was no way I wanted to make the shield. I didn’t even know it was supposed to be a shield.”
“It’s not about wanting to create the exact object or effect. It is more important to want to magic to succeed. This is especially dangerous if you don’t know what runes you are creating or combining. Voletain told me stories about previous Archons who have blown up their homes trying to create some new rune spell. That’s why Voletain uses the safety runes for all training. Even if I couldn’t use runes, he wanted to make sure nothing went wrong.”
“So, don’t try anything that you haven’t taught me. Gotcha.”
Bayle created another quick shield. He punched the air in front of him. He lost his balance, as he had expected some resistance.
“What happened? Did I mess up?”
Mikol threw another punch and shattered the shield.
“Wouldn’t be much use if you could break your own shield.”
“Can I make a lot them at once, like a hundred or more?”
“No, that spell doesn’t layer. It was created for a quick defense in the middle of a fight.”
“Is there anything you can teach me offensively? What about a fireball?” asked Bayle.
“That is way too dangerous to teach right now. Although it might be good if you knew how. Wouldn’t hurt to have something to do if you have no other options. Ok, yeah, I will teach you how to create a fireball. When we get back to Valefort we’ll have Voletain help teach you how to wield it properly. Pay close attention to what I do. It is pretty complex.”
Mikol created an elaborate symbol in the air, followed by a string of binding words. With flourish towards the far wall, he caused a ball of flame to leap from his hand and arc across the chamber. It exploded when it hit the wall and continued to burn everywhere it touched. Mikol moved quickly to draw another rune and spoke faster than Bayle could follow. He extended his hand towards the fire and it died out as he pointed at it.
“Did you follow what I did?”
“Yeah, I think so. But why can’t I try it if you can just put it out?”
“It’s not a problem when you do it right. It’s a problem when you do it wrong and the runes are drawn incorrectly. That rune could miscast and explode around you and probably kill us both.”
“Oh. Yeah, I don’t want to blow us up. Show it to me again.”
Bayle copied Mikol’s movement as closely as he could. Mikol nodded and had Bayle do it multiple times. When he had it down well enough, Mikol made sure he understood the binding words.
“Should we try to figure out anything about what this room was before we leave?” asked Bayle.
Mikol could feel the magic now. The runes still covered the wall and floor but he did not feel anything from them. The obelisk had been the only other thing in the room. Mikol did not see anything else in the room, but he remembered something Voletain had told him long ago. He drew another rune and had to try it three times before it succeeded. His vision was now augmented with rune magic. He could see the magic. Bayle had a small aura around him that was dissipating. Knowing what Bayle had just done with magic made it easier for Mikol to understand what the aura showed him. When he looked down at himself, he could see the power he was emanating. Even sheathed, Raythrael was blinding to look at. The small light runes that ringed the cave were the only other source of magic. Everything else was dull. He shifted through the rubble for any other clues. The silver attunement rune did not glow. He frowned.
“I can see magic everywhere, but I don’t see anything to tell me what this room was. It seems this cave stopped being what it was when I, or Rayhtrael, destroyed the obelisk.”
“And you’ve read nothing about this type of chamber in your studies?”
“Nope. But I know this room has been around for centuries. Maybe even millennia.”
Mikol took out the pendant. He walked around the room to see if it would react to anything. Nothing showed on the pendant. He had hoped for something to react, or even an ambiguous arrow to follow.
“We definitely found what this pendant was meant to find. Whatever that was.” Mikol shrugged. “But at least I can go back to Ternia and help defend against this warlord.” Mikol walked over to the entrance. He saw nothing magical. “I hope the door still works. Are you ready?”
Bayle nodded.
“I don’t know what to expect out there.”
Bayle readied his crossbow. Mikol activated his runic armor and saw that Bayle create a quick shield. He held the pendant up to the door and hesitated. He took several deep breaths before placing the pendant in the door. The outline of the door appeared instantly. Mikol barely registered there was no handle as he pushed the door slowly outward. The runes inside the cave disappeared the moment the seal to the cave was opened. Mikol did not know how long they had been inside the cave. The moon was high in the sky and provided adequate light. He only opened the door wide enough that he could step out. Branches scraped against his armor as he walked.
Cautiously stepping farther out, he did not see anything or anyone. He looked behind the cave door as well. Nothing. He turned to Bayle and motioned him forward. When Bayle stepped clear of the foliage they both turned to see a man rise up with a crossbow from the path. Bayle’s shield exploded a second later, but his reaction sent his own crossbow bolt firing in to the man’s chest. Bayle immediately reloaded as they moved out of the cave. The sound of bouncing rocks came from the path as two more men rose up with crossbows. Mikol leapt forward as the men fired. The first bolt hit Mikol’s armor in the chest. It bounced off harmlessly; Mikol hardly felt it. The second bolt flew wide over his shoulder.
Mikol closed the distance in three strides. The two men scrambled to drop their crossbows and draw their swords. With one motion, Mikol swung at the man and manifested his runic blade. The blow felled the first man. Mikol dodged away as the second man
drew his sword. He parried a second strike and took a step backward. The man anticipated Mikol and was ready to block the overhead strike coming at him. Mikol smiled. He had wanted the man to react this way. He released his sword.
The man gasped as he had braced for the impact of a blade that was no longer there. Mikol had already reached out with his left hand, manifesting the blade as he extended. The man grunted as the blade slid in to his chest. He looked at Mikol and then down at the blade. Mikol released the sword. It disappeared once again. The man fell forward, dead.
Bayle rushed forward with his crossbow ready. He checked all three men to be certain they were dead. Mikol peered down the path but did not see anyone coming up the path.
“That was amazing! How did you do that?”
“I wasn’t sure that would work. Ever since Voletain told me about the runic tattoos I had always imagined being able to do something like that, but real swords don’t work that way. I will need to train all over again with these runes. It opens up a whole new level of combat.”
“Wouldn’t that be cheating in competitions?”
Mikol smirked while walking to the edge of the plateau. He let out a sigh as he looked down. Bayle came up next to him to peer over the edge as well. At the base of the ridge where they had left their horses, they could see light from a campfire. They were not alone.
Chapter 16
Surrounded
Mikol held his breath as he looked over the precipice. So far there he only saw a fire. Maybe they had gotten lucky and the men they had killed were the only ones waiting for them. His hopes were dashed when he saw shadows being cast by the fire moving around. He watched for several minutes, counting the shadows. He guessed there were seven more men but he could not be certain from this distance. He could not tell who they were, but given what they had already experienced, he assumed they were there to kill him.
“Can we throw something down on them?” asked Bayle.
“Like what? There’s nothing up here to drop.” Mikol scooped up a handful of sand and rocks. “Unless you just want to make them dusty and annoyed.”
“No, that’s not exactly what I meant. Can’t you throw a fireball down on them?”
Mikol looked down at the area below. For several minutes he did not speak. All of the scenarios he could imagine involved too much luck. Nothing was working out truly in their favor.
“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s too far to try right now. Given some time I could probably incinerate all of them down there. But there’s a good chance I would also burn our horses and everything else too.”
“Any other magical thing you can do? I can’t believe we have come all this way and now that you have all this power, you can’t do squat.”
Mikol was only half listening to Bayle as he thought through his catalog of runes. He remembered several that could kill from this distance, but since he had never used them, or trained with them, he was still afraid of miscasting them. He laughed to himself as he imagined miscasting the rune and having it kill both of them. Then this misadventure would be over and he would not have to worry about it anymore. He resigned himself to try something stupid. Suddenly, he remembered something from long ago.
“Ok, I thought of a way can get down to the camp unnoticed. But once we’re down there we will need to be quick about dispatching them.”
“You have a plan for getting us down the rocky path with out being seen or heard?”
“Yes.”
Mikol walked back to the edge where the path led down. There was still nothing to be seen on the path itself. He had half hoped for his foes to make this easier. It had taken them several hours to safely climb to the top. They would have to be careful, but going down would be much easier. He motioned for Bayle to stand next to him. After Bayle came near, Mikol began creating many runes. With every rune he created he felt more alive and invigorated. He had to calm himself before he incorrectly drew a rune. There were multiple layers of runes that he created and interwove with each other. Having never down this before he was nervous, but he had helped to create this runic spell. He finished off the spell with another orb of light. Bayle looked at him with a concerned, raised eyebrow.
“Won’t that defeat the purpose?”
“Not with the other spells I put up. Walk away and look, but be quick. I wrapped the spells around you too, but if you stay out too long they might fall off.”
Bayle walked away several steps and turned. Mikol could see the look of shock on his face.
“I don’t see anything!”
Bayle hurried back to Mikol. The air wavered as he stepped through the bubble. Bayle waved his hand through the edge of the bubble. The surface of the bubble moved like water and he giggled.
“What did you do?”
“I cloaked us in shadows, deadened any sounds escaping the bubble, and made it so light will not be seen by anyone outside the bubble.”
“That is amazing. Who taught you that?”
“Arceri and I thought of it a long time ago, when I first became apprentice. He wanted to see if we could think of something no one had thought of before. It took awhile to figure out. Once I had it all worked out he tried it out and told me it worked. That was when he told me he knew I was going to be a great Archon and was glad that I had accepted.”
After climbing down to the flatter part of the path they carefully made their way down. Mikol knew he had been exhausted but did not realize how much. He did not remember the ascent up the path and relied on Bayle to lead down. When the large rock cleft loomed in the distance, it did spark a moment of recognition and he knew they were close to the bottom. Mikol grabbed Bayle’s shoulder to stop him. When he turned around, Mikol pointed to the side of one of the large rocks. Bayle shrugged his shoulders. Mikol picked up a small pebble and tossed it down the path. It bounced a couple of times, causing a few more rocks to move. The side of the rock cleft seemed to grow larger until the shadow of a man could be seen standing near it.
“How did you see him?”
“You don’t need to whisper,” Mikol grinned as Bayle rolled his eyes, “And I’m not entirely sure. I have several runic tattoos that are for my health, but no one mentioned I would be able to see in the dark.”
“So what do we do? Can you kill them with magic now?”
“No, the bubble will only protect us as long as magic does not pierce it.”
Bayle slowly nodded his head. He took aim at the shadow and waited.
“I don’t know where to shoot exactly. All I can see is his shadow. Or I think that is his shadow.”
“I’ll throw a rock at the shadow. If it makes a noise, fire.”
Mikol picked up another rock. When he was certain Bayle was ready, he threw the rock at the shadow. They were close enough that when the man made a noise Bayle’s bolt was only a second behind. The man fell backward out of sight. They waited for an alarm to be called or any reaction. After a few minutes they were confident none would be raised.
They climbed up the rock where the shadow had been and found the dead body. Bayle was either lucky or well-trained. The bolt had taken the man through the neck. Bayle went to retrieve the bolt, but it had been damaged. Mikol could see with a cursory glance the body was covered in scars.
“I don’t know who those other men were in Silverhall, but it seems they lost.”
Bayle spat on the body. They carefully made their way around the rock to the edge of the rest area clearing. A fire in the pit illuminated the area. They rounded the rock and could see someone standing nearby. Bayle tried to scramble backwards but was stopped by Mikol.
“Relax. They can’t see us yet. That one over there would have spotted us already.”
Bayle looked at Mikol and the camp. He reluctantly nodded as one of the men laughed at something.
“They would have taken action by now if they could see us.”
They watched the camp. Around the campfire sat three men talking. Three other men were close to the fire but appea
red to be sleeping. A seventh man stood by the horses, presumably to keep watch over the horses, but Mikol could not tell.
“Ok, here’s the plan. You take that one out by the horses, and I will take out these.”
“What? All of them? What are you going to do?”
“You’ll see.”
Mikol made several duplicate runes. With each completed rune a small green orb appeared and then absorbed into his hand. Bayle raised an eyebrow at Mikol but aimed his crossbow at the man near the horses.
“Ok, when I go, you take him.”
Bayle nodded. “Ok.”
Mikol took a deep breath. He nodded his head a few times before leaping forward. As he moved forward, Mikol flung his arms wide and opened his hands. Six green, pulsing projectiles raced towards the men. Three of them hit the sleeping men with an explosion. Mikol could not stop to verify if they were dead. Two of the projectiles collided in a multihued explosion with a shield spell raised by two of the men. The sixth projectile flew wide over the last man and shattered a tree behind him. Mikol heard Bayle curse behind him and take off running. He did not have time to look back as he had to dodge away from two missiles that were fired back at him.
The third man bent down to pick up a stick before rushing at him. Mikol flung three more orbs at them. Two of the men yelped as they dodged out of the way, their half-prepared spells dissipating in a loud pop. The third man parried the missile with the stick. Mikol wondered why it had not exploded but soon saw the stick was actually a pock-marked hunk of metal with a jagged edge. He dodged away as the man brought the weapon down, whether to chop or to squash, Mikol could not say.
Despite the unwieldy nature of his weapon the man was able to move it with surprising speed. From the way he swung the metal, Mikol could tell it was supposed to be a sword. It took Mikol a moment before he was able to understand how this man fought. His initial read of the man had been wrong. The uncoordinated attacks were merely feints to get Mikol in to a compromising position. After he knew what the man was trying to do he was able to guess at the next attack. Mikol spun to the right under the attack, reaching his hand out towards the man. The man could not alter his course even with the sudden appearance of a sword in Mikol’s hand. The blade was driven through the man’s chest all the way to the crackling blue hilt. For a moment, the action came to a halt, and Mikol saw the surprise on the faces of the other two men. When he released the blade, the body of the man fell forward and Mikol spun around, flinging the last two projectiles.