The Archon's Apprentice

by Neil Breault

  One of the men yelled out “Paragon!” just before the explosion tore into him. He fell backward, while his comrade only opened his eyes wide, concentrating on preparing a spell. The other orb flew wide. Mikol dodged away from the mage as he completed the spell. Several projectiles flew over Mikol as he dodged. One of them hit him on the chest, forcing him to the ground. The spell exploded but did not harm Mikol because of his armor.

  Mikol regained his feet. The mage had given up on complicated spells. As Mikol walked towards the mage it was all he could do to stop the spells with a quick shield. He was not sure what any of the spells that were coming at him did, but he did not want to find out the hard way. When the barrage of spells stopped, Mikol barely had time to prepare for the next attack. Mikol finished his runic spell as red, crackling energy poured out of the blood mage, rushing at him. The energy was stopped by Mikol’s spell and it split around him. As the energy flowed around him he felt it rip through his armor. His own spell held and eventually started to absorb the energy. He was able to walk towards the mage again slowly.

  The two spells warred with each other, sending sparks shooting off in all directions. When Mikol was within a few feet of the mage the crackling stopped. He wasted no time drawing Raythrael and leapt forward. The shield spell that mage had erected did not stop the path of Mikol’s sword as it bit into the man’s stomach and continued out through his neck. There was another still moment as Mikol made sure the man was dead before turning to help Bayle.

  As he ran toward Bayle and his adversary, Mikol surveyed the battle. Luckily, it did not appear that the man Bayle fought was a full-fledged blood mage. He was bearing down on Bayle, who seemed to be holding out well enough, but the man gained more energy the longer his wounds bled. This man wielded his sword in what Mikol knew to be a well-practiced stance. Mikol guessed the man had not been able to see what happened to his comrades, or he would have finished off Bayle already.

  Mikol was finishing a spell to take down the fighter, looking for his opening to not hit Bayle accidentally. The man instantly saw the danger coming at him and knocked Bayle down, turning immediately to face his new threat. Mikol faltered a moment and had to recreate the spell. The man rushed him, ran up a rock and leapt at Mikol, who stood his ground, finishing the spell. When Mikol released his spell, he had to dodge away from the man as he burst in to flames with a scream. He dropped his sword as he fell to the ground, flailing in pain. Bayle rushed over to the man, stabbing his sword into the man’s chest. Mikol watched until he stopped moving and then muttered the spell to put out the fire.

  Bayle stood over the man, breathing heavily. He pulled up his sword with a groan. Mikol then noticed Bayle was bleeding from cuts on his body. He had not covered much of the healing arts yet. He knew a few spells that would help, but nothing would be good in the long term. The cuts did not look to be life threatening, but Mikol knew any wound in battle could kill. They both turned at the sounds of yelling coming from the road.

  “This has got to stop. I am tired of running. Stay here. I’ll take care of this. I don’t want you getting killed.”

  Mikol moved closer to the road, staying low and behind anything that would hide him. He prepared several spells and activated most of his offensive and defensive tattoos. His hearing became more sensitive; he heard the footsteps of five men. Slowing his own breath, he concentrated on the sounds coming toward him. After a tense moment of tuning out his heart, he was able to focus enough to hear them breathe. He peeked around the boulder he was hiding behind to see how far away they were. It took him a moment to find them in the dark and he was amazed at how far away he could hear.

  He needed to formulate a plan to take all five men. He knew there were two groups following them, but surely it was not two groups of blood mages. If this was another group of blood mages he would have to end it quickly. He knew he had gotten lucky. He activated another tattoo reserved only for the Archon and those had deemed worthy. He silently gasped as the sudden appearance of light around him. The rune allowed him to see the flow of magic and its interaction with the world. His hands slowly pulsed purple with the magic in them. The rest of his body gave off a glow, and he watched the magic flow around and through him. He looked around the boulder at the approaching men. The flow of magic was strong on the mountain. He saw strong currents coming off of the plateau they had just been on. The flow of magic rushed down the road, but when it reached the men it parted around them. With his vision altered, the only way he knew there were living men coming at him were the black, moving voids in the sea of changing hues.

  They were far enough away not to be an immediate threat. Mikol went back to check on Bayle. They nodded at each other. Bayle nudged his crossbow to show he was ready for action. The currents flowed here as well. Some went around Bayle and others through him without any sign the magic was even there. The cuts on Bayle’s body gave off another hue and slowly spread outward from his body. Mikol had no experience with this yet and did not know what it meant, but it did not look good. The bodies of the blood mages were black, but not as dark as the men coming up the road. The current passed through the dead bodies. With every moment Mikol thought he saw the bodies grow ever darker.

  Mikol moved back into position. He thought he would understand what or whom he would be facing, but he only had more questions. He could hear that they were closer now. They were within fifty yards of the boulder. He cracked his knuckles. Forty yards. He cleared his throat. Thirty yards. He cracked his neck. Twenty yards. He breathed deeply. When they were ten yards away, Mikol rushed from around the boulder, casting his spells as he ran.

  Instantly, the men were surrounded by a fire wall. Magical shackles appeared and raced forward, locking their legs together and binding their arms. Mikol spoke the binding for a silencing bubble and heard one of the men call out his name, pleading. His hand was on Raythrael but had yet to draw it. Even in the bright light of his magic, they stood empty like an abyss. He did not see any of them struggle, despite their bonds. He canceled some of the spells, still ready to draw Raythrael.

  “Which of you called out my name?”

  “I did, Your Highness.”

  “And who are you?”

  “My name is Dervo. I am a Warden, Your Highness.”

  Curious, Mikol extinguished the flame wall and released the men from their bonds. None of them drew any weapons. Instead, all bowed to him. He did not know what to think of this turn of events.

  “Who sent you?”

  “Voletain sent us to find you and bring you home, Your Highness.”

  “Enough with the ‘Your Highness’ right now. Do you have any proof you are wardens? Why are none of you magically active? No Warden I know would have been caught so easily.”

  None of them said anything and they all avoided looking at Mikol. Dervo opened and closed his mouth several times, then reached inside his jacket, withdrew a letter, and handed it to Mikol. It was sealed much more elaborately than he had ever seen. With his rune still active he could see the bindings in place. No one would have been able to open the letter. If someone tried they would probably have been killed. As he opened the letter he saw the magic pop dissipating harmlessly away.

  Mikol,

  I hope this letter finds you in time. Do not seek Ioyan’s Legacy. It has been sealed away to protect world. I wish I had been able to teach you all about the world we live in, but more recent pressing matters have been at hand. I suspect there is more to this war than what we have been shown.

  DO NOT destroy the obelisk!

  All will be explained when you arrive home.

  If it is too late and the Obelisk is destroyed, make haste home and protect your kingdom.

  Voletain

  “I don’t know what this means. Why were you sent after me?”

  “Voletain told us to find you and give you this letter. Our mission would be explained in the letter,” said Dervo.

  “The only thing it says to do now is go home. I don’t understand an
y of this. Tell me what you know.”

  “Very well, Your Highness.” Mikol sighed but Dervo continued.

  “When you left, Voletain was still at the Sanctuary. It was more than a week before he arrived back in Valefort with us. He inquired about your whereabouts, but no one could tell him. He was frustrated and went to his office. He became furious when he couldn’t find something. As Omoni was the only preceptor left, he was questioned. We were told to watch his office. Neither man left for two days. When Voletain came out of his office, he told us Omoni had given you a pendant. You were searching for Ioyan’s cache. He penned that letter and sent us to find you within the hour. He wanted us to find you and stop you. We were to make sure you read the letter first.”

  “You were just told to stop me?”

  Dervo nodded.

  “That was you at the gate back in Silverhall?”

  Dervo nodded.

  “How did you get into Silverhall?”

  “There’s a smugglers’ entrance near the base of the mountain. It actually took awhile to find it, as it hasn’t been used for several decades.”

  “How did those scarmongers get past you?”

  “What do you mean? They didn’t. We killed them all. We had to give chase to two of them, but they were dead before we left Silverhall.”

  “Hmm. I guess there was a second group.”

  “A second group?”

  Mikol motioned for them to follow and walked back to the clearing. Bayle looked relieved to see Mikol but raised an eyebrow at the men following Mikol. His demeanor changed as Mikol mouthed the word Wardens to him. Dervo looked over the bodies of the dead men. When he looked back at Mikol there was no hiding the pride in his expression.

  “We’re sorry we didn’t help, Sire.”

  “I know you guys have some healing runes. Can someone help me with these?” asked Bayle. He stepped forward, indicating the wounds he had sustained.

  “Not anymore. After we left Silverhall we were struck down by some force. When we got up we could no longer feel the flow of magic or use any runes.”

  It was then Mikol noticed a speck of light in the void on all of the men. He walked over to Dervo and grabbed his arm. Dervo flinched but did not resist. Mikol rolled up Dervo’s sleeve, revealing the glowing attunement rune tattooed on his arm. He went to all of them and saw the same thing.

  He had not had the attunement rune tattooed on his body because he was the fourth son. Ioyan’s edict was created to stop more civil wars and prevented any but the heir to the throne from being given full access to magic and its complement of runes. Ioyan’s Legacy had been the attunement rune. Mikol had never questioned it before, as it had always been that way. Now it made sense why Bayle had been able to use runes and magic. The obelisk had been the focal point for the attunement rune. Mikol drew his Raythrael.

  “Dervo, this might hurt.”

  Dervo looked Mikol in the eye. Fear in his eyes gave way to trust. He nodded to Mikol.

  Mikol place the flat of the blade over the attunement rune and willed it away. They all heard a sizzling noise and Dervo cried out. When Mikol released him, Dervo dropped to the ground, panting. Mikol smiled. The four other wardens had reached for their swords, taking a step back, looking between Mikol and Dervo.

  Dervo laughed.

  “Calm yourselves,” said Dervo.

  Dervo stood up, his runic armor manifesting and encasing his body. The flow of magic returned. He no longer appeared as a void, darkness replaced by the multihued light of all of his runes.

  “I can see to your wounds now.” Dervo motioned for Bayle move closer.

  Mikol smiled wide and looked at the remaining wardens.

  “Who’s next?” asked Mikol.

  Chapter 17

  Alderden

  While Mikol removed the other attunement runes Dervo mended the wounds Bayle had sustained. The Wardens sifted through the dead blood mages’ belongings to see if they carried anything of note. Other than a couple of weapons they did not find anything.

  “You took out seven mages?” said one of the wardens.

  “Three of them were sleeping when I attacked,” said Mikol.

  “That’s still impressive. We haven’t seen a surge in blood mages this big in centuries. This warlord must have been training blood mages for years,” said another warden.

  “Sorry, Sire. We can discuss this later. The letter stated we need to get back to Ternia,” said Dervo.

  Mikol nodded.

  “Where would the mountain pass take us?”

  “Eventually, it would take us to Whitecliff. Though that will take too long and leads in the wrong direction. The fastest way is back through Silverhall. We’ll pass several small villages that are sympathetic to the Wardens, and we could get supplies and rest,” said Dervo.

  “I don’t like it but don’t see any other options open to us yet.”

  Mikol mounted his horse. The other horses did not seem to mind having new riders, and they rode back toward Silverhall in haste. Even though Mikol had come this way recently, he did not recognize anything they passed. He realized again how sick he had been and was glad he had made it to the obelisk. They arrived back at Silverhall in good time. The sunrise came upon them quickly. It would have been a beautiful sight to behold had it not been for the bodies of Silverhall guards lying dead in the road. The back gate had been damaged during the fight and was wide open.

  “Your handiwork?” asked Mikol.

  Dervo shook his head. They rode through the gate but dismounted in the inner courtyard. They heard a low rumble from across the city. Mikol looked at Dervo and the Wardens but only received a shrug. They all flinched as an explosion erupted in the southern part of the city. Someone rushed out of the shadows toward them. Mikol reached for Raythrael but Dervo moved to intercept.

  “Nilo, what is happening?” asked Dervo.

  Mikol relaxed but kept his hand on his sword.

  “It seems our fight with the blooders sparked some sort of riot in the south of the city. The city guard have been trying to contain the damage but it looks pretty bad.”

  “South? What happened to the guards out there?”

  “Some how a group of squatters found the smugglers’ entrance. The guards didn’t stand a chance against the mob. After they killed all of them, the mob ran off in to the city,” said Nilo.

  “Is there no way through the city?” asked Mikol.

  “I’ve ventured a little way in to the city.” Nilo looked from Mikol to Dervo and back quickly. “There’s no way through, Your Highness. If we wanted to leave the city now we can try the smugglers’ cave. But it will lead us near the mass of people camped around the city. I don’t know how many of them would be friendly to civilized folk.”

  “Are we stuck in this savage sundered city?” asked Bayle.

  “There may be another way. But it hasn’t been used in centuries,” said Dervo.

  “Travel stones? In the heart of the Savage Kingdoms?”

  “Sire, Sibilova was once part of Ternia before the sundering. The Wardens have not used the travel stones in centuries because we didn’t want the scarmongers to find any and pervert them with blood magic,” said Dervo.

  “We don’t time for subtlety. We must get back to Valefort as quickly as we can.”

  Mikol drew Raythrael and motioned for Nilo to come to him. Nilo looked to Dervo, obviously confused. Dervo jerked his head towards Mikol and told him to pull up his sleeve. Mikol quickly eradicated another attunement rune. Nilo held back a yell and swore at the other Wardens. They laughed at him and rolled up their sleeves to show they had gone through it as well. Nilo was going to speak when Dervo cut him off.

  “Do we know where the travel stones are located?” asked Mikol.

  “That’s the hitch. We were told about their existence but never of their locations.”

  “Who told you about them?”

  “Omoni, of course.”

  Mikol was not surprised at the lack of information Omoni
had provided. It would take too long to go from building to building looking for something that no one should know existed. There had to be a way to locate them. After contemplating several runes he came up with a plan. He began drawing three complicated runes and then bound them together in another floating light orb.

  “If I created this right, it should lead us to any strong magical source that flows out of the city. Let’s just hope there’s no such thing as a blood travel stone.”

  “I see why the Archon chose you, Your Highness. It will be a pleasure to serve you.”

  Mikol blushed slightly but nodded to Dervo.

  “Let’s just hope it works.”

  Mikol and Bayle retrieved their gear from the horses. When they walked into the city the orb flew off down a side street. Where it had been hard to find a straight path in the streets before, the city itself now seemed empty. Soon enough, they saw the aftermath of several battles that had raged in the streets. Not having seen anyone alive yet, Mikol felt they were being watched. The pendant hung around his neck still but it remained blank. After following the orb in what seemed a circuitous path, they finally found themselves at a sewer entrance. They hesitated only for a moment before heading down.

  Mikol expected it to be horrible but was pleasantly surprised to see Ternian construction and design. The walkway was wide enough for three of them to walk abreast. The orb had changed from a crimson hue to a bluish one. Mikol knew they were getting closer. After several twists and turns that left Mikol feeling lost, they found themselves in a small chamber underneath the city. The chamber was unadorned, but nine stones stood in the center. Unless you knew what you were looking for you would have missed the chamber, so it surprised Mikol the room was not dusty.