The forms that played in the abyss, representations of the story, faded and the light returned to the area. There was polite applause at the skill it took to make the story a visual spectacle, and everyone slowly rose to ascend to the roof of the palace to view the light show the Mages put on.
I stood with Yulia apart from the others, my arms wrapped around her. We watched the light show, the images that danced across sky silently telling of battles and stories. There were only a dozen or so mages creating the show, working together. It was a great display that lasted over an hour. At the end of it all, we began the walk down to the halls where drinks had been prepared to continue the Festival. Yulia and I excused ourselves, beginning the long walk back to the Tower.
Anwher and Olivia also excused themselves, joining us on the walk. The streets were still filled with revelers, most of them deep in drink. I grew tired of the men grabbing at Yulia and Olivia. With a motion we had a moving ward that prevented people from getting too close. It was subtle, suggesting to anyone that the space was not to be approached.
It worked well, but the press of revelers still made for slow going. After reaching the Tower, we climbed the stairs until Olivia and Anwher stopped at the fourth floor. Sighing, I took him off to the side.
“You understand why I have to do this?” I spoke in a low and soft voice.
Anwher nodded, “I know. Master Ashram gave me a similar talk earlier.”
“Then you should understand, even more so because she is my student.”
“I understand.” Anwher glanced over, “Do they know what we are talking about?”
“Most likely.” I caught his eye, “Tread carefully, I wouldn’t want you to end up a cripple. Be sure to keep her from doing the same.”
“I will.”
I stepped back from pinning him against the railing, “Make sure she gets some rest tonight, we are leaving tomorrow.”
“Yes, Master Gantz.” Anwher bowed slightly, and then turned to lead Olivia to his room.
Yulia waited for me on the bottom step, not speaking until we were in my rooms and the ward was placed. She turned, “Playing the big brother?”
“Doing my duty as her teacher.” I walked over to the sink and splashed my face.
“Stop messing around, and come help me.” Yulia’s hair was out of its bun.
I left the sink, priorities were a wonderful thing.
Chapter 22
This time I left Yulia asleep as I belted on my swords and made my way to the tree where Rolf and I had agreed to meet. The sun was just starting to come up, and he was already there with his men. All of them were armed, and none looked to have partaken too heavily from last night. The longsword on my back felt heavier as I strode up to them.
Rolf stepped forward, hands empty. “Gantz, I’ll ask you one last time to please make this peaceful.”
I stopped a dozen or so paces away, “Rolf. I’ll ask you one last time to please avoid this bloodshed.”
“We are at an impasse then.” Rolf unsheathed his sword, and his men drew their weapons. “No hard feelings?”
“I’ll be sure to tell your commander that you fought well against the Reaper’s Apprentice.”
The whistling was the only warning I had before I ducked out of the way from the arrow. Five attackers, not four. My longsword leapt off of my back and into my hand. The men hesitated for a brief second at the sight of it. I used the chance to leap in between the four of them to keep the hidden archer from firing at me.
I whirled around, longsword cutting through their armor and creating deep wounds. Two of the men collapsed, guts starting to peek out from their armor. Before I could get attacked from the back, I took another leap towards the collapsed men. A spin of my sword cut their throats and ended any threat they may have posed.
Rolf had been able to get his blade and arm between my sword and his body. His left arm was cut deeply, but not too deep to make it useless. His sword had a deep scar on it and would be useless after the fight.
Another arrow whistled at me, and my bolstered reactions let me cut it down as it passed. More arrows, coming from different directions put me on the defensive. I was forced to draw my shortsword to defend myself. Rolf and the other attacker hung back to recover, waiting for me to slip.
Growing tired, I put up a barrier that turned all the arrows aside. “This was fun. I’m afraid I have somewhere to be soon.”
One of the arrows made it through the barrier, but before it could reach me it stalled. I picked it out of the air, twirling it in my freehand. With a flick I sent it to the man next to Rolf, impaling him in the neck where his armor did not protect. Rolf was pale, from blood loss and fear as I continued to walk forward. My swords were back in their sheaths, and the arrows continued to be diverted.
With a small motion, the arrows ceased. The attackers collapsed as the air around them pressed them down. Rolf began to gasp as he struggled to breathe, “How?”
“I’m a Master Mage.” I sighed, and a wave of my hand took the air from everyone but Rolf.
“You… told me… you… were an… Adept.” Rolf slowly turned blue as he forced the words out.
“One of the rules for being a Mage is to not claim a level above their last test. I didn’t lie to you.” I knelt beside him, my foot resting on his blade. “I asked you to leave me alone, I gave you every chance. I am sorry you did not heed my advice.”
Rolf closed his eyes and died. I frowned and searched his body for the letter all mercenaries carried. I found it, and stowed it in the pouch on my belt. After some maneuvering the dozen men and women who attacked me were all lying in a shallow trench. I bowed my head over them, now in the possession of each of their letters. Flame burst from their bodies, and in minutes they were ash in the trench.
Before heading back to the Tower, I stopped at the Messengers Guild with the letters and gold. The early morning made the streets empty after the celebrations and that made travel much faster. I arrived back at the Tower in time to find Yulia rising from our bed.
“Where did you go?” Her hair was a mess, and sleep muddled her voice.
I leaned in the doorway, “I had a promise to keep. I kept it.”
Yulia shook the sleep from her head, “And you returned without a scratch. I woke up an hour ago, to a shock through the ether.”
“A statement had to be made.” I dropped my head, “A statement in blood and power.”
The look on Yulia’s face was one of pity as she raised my head, “Rolf?”
“A dozen. All highly trained. At least two were mages of some variety. They rejected my final offer to leave.” I rested my forehead on hers.
“Did you…?”
“I recovered their letters, and sent them through the Messenger’s Guild.”
“The bodies?”
“Burned and buried.”
Yulia gave me a soft kiss, “They would have kept chasing you. Put it from your mind, it’s our last day together for few months.”
“Yes.” I hugged her close, and we moved from the doorway to the bed.
Chapter 23
It was well after the normal breakfast time when Yulia and I left my room with bags on our backs and hands entwined. Olivia and Anwher both had full plates in front of them despite the lateness of the morning. Breakfast was a mostly quiet affair, gloom hanging over as we were all going to leave each other soon. Anwher walked us out of the Tower, where the rest of the family was already waiting.
There weren’t any tears, and at the crossroads Yulia left us. The few days of travel were filled with talks between the parents and the boys. It was a compromise they agreed on, to wait until the boys were of age before joining. Zeysho gave them both a letter of promise which helped ease the hurt of having to wait. It was now the worry of Ash on where he would find a new apprentice with all of his children leaving to pursue their own paths.
I let Olivia know that there would not be any training during the travel. It wasn’t until we all got back that I pulled
her off to the side.
“I need you to understand something, and this will help explain what happened at the Feast.” During the talk, we walked to the clearing in the trees that had become the main training area.
“Okay.” Olivia looked confused. “Shouldn’t we have helped them unload?”
“It’s fine.” I sat on the trunk, “You’re officially a Mage, albeit a Novice. There’s some things you need to learn now.”
“What are they, Master?”
“Have you made any promises since I started training you?”
Olivia looked up, thinking about the answer. “A few small ones, but I kept them all.”
“Remember how I swore to the Duke that I wasn’t there to hurt anyone or cause a disturbance?”
“Yeah.”
“Watch the ether around me.” I gave her a second, “I promise I won’t hit you.”
Before she could react, I smack her upside the head. Yulia rubbed the spot, “What was that?”
“Are you watching the ether around me? What’s changed?”
“The ether attacked you, it’s like an open wound.” Olivia’s eyes widened. “When a Mage breaks a promise, they get hurt by the ether?”
“Of a variety. You’ll get a punishment deemed appropriate by the ether depending on the severity. Imagine promising never to kill someone and then being forced to do it. The ether could take your life to balance the scales.” I began to mold the ether, causing it to swirl around me, “The more powerful you are, the greater the damage as well. If you think about it we Mages hold power greater than most and as such we need greater shackles. Our promises are binding by more than just our honor. A great enough promise could destroy your soul if broken.”
“Then my promises…” Olivia’s eyes grew wide as she began to understand. “I could have been permanently hurt!”
“Unlikely. It has to be a pretty serious promise. The ether knows the difference. This is why most Mages never get married or swear eternal love. It’s also why a Mage can be believed whenever they swear they are telling the truth.” I kept the ether flowing, “So in the future, be very careful about making promises.”
“I still have a question.”
“Yes?”
“How does the ether know all this? Is it sentient?”
I paused, and the flow of the ether stopped. “I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. You remember the Tale of Beginning?”
“Of course. It’s how everything was created.”
“What happened when the God of Magic finished sealing his parents on the moons?”
“He put himself into the sealing, and vanished.”
“That’s what we tell people.” I looked at her, “I need you to swear to not disclose anything we have discussed to a Common.”
“I thought you just told me to not make promises.”
“This information is for Mages only. Power means responsibility. Every Tower-trained Mage makes this oath when they graduate to Journeyman.” I crossed my arms, “If you don’t make the oath, I can’t tell you anything more. I’m sorry.”
Olivia took a minute to think, carefully weighing the options. “I swear to never reveal our discussion to a Common.” She shuddered as the weight of the promise settled around her.
“The God of Magic isn’t dead. He’s still alive.”
“What?”
“The version of events from the Tale are a little reversed. The God of Magic sealed his parents, and then raised the Mages. He put most of his power into the ether as a way to make sure Mages didn’t grow too full of themselves. Still as a God he is immortal, and went into hiding. No one has ever been able to find him but we tell Commons he gave himself to sealing his parents. A few Mages search for him every year.” I sighed, “None of them ever return.”
“Is that where Charon went? To find the God of Magic?”
I shook my head, “I honestly don’t know. After killing the majority of the royal family people were more concerned with why he did it. It’s a question I need answered.”
Olivia sighed, “The more I learn, the less I understand.”
“Welcome to life.” I stood up, “Take the week off from Mage training and train with your brothers.”
We headed back to the house, and helped to put everything away from the trip. Ash had bought a lot of new materials so I helped him store it all in the forge. My blades had been in stasis the entire time, waiting in the molds for me to enchant them like I had the other two blades.
It took a short time for everything to be put in place and for Ash to start the forge up again after having let it die to avoid an accident. I yawned, and headed to my room to sleep. Looking for traps was still a habit, as was setting them up to prevent someone from attacking me. My sleep went uninterrupted and dreamless. I was able to wake up in time for dinner, before going to the forge and continuing my work on the long dagger.
The week went quickly as I slept during the day and worked on the dagger at night. After practicing with the other blades I was able to complete the dagger at a much faster rate. The week had me complete half the enchantments, and after the night I walked out of the forge to see Olivia sitting on the fence waiting for me.
“The week’s up. Time for training.”
I yawned, “Look at my ether.”
“It’s… thinner. Depleted.” Olivia looked at me, “I don’t even feel you using it, but by when comparing it to how you usually feel it’s like you’re depleted.”
“Right. Remember how I described training the ether like training your body?” I took a breath, “Every day I work myself to the limit as a way to keep improving. After tiring myself with the forge to increase my capacity, I train you in order to perfect my control.”
“Why do you need to be stronger?” Olivia cocked her head, “Even Archmage Talkide didn’t have near your strength.”
“Strength isn’t everything. Being a Master does mean being strong, but it’s more about how well you can control the ether.” I started walking over to the clearing, “Time to teach you something else.”
Chapter 24
Olivia and I stood in the clearing. The sound of her brothers training by the stream carried to us even though we couldn’t see them. After the tournament lit a fire under them, they would wake up and complete their chores by the time the sun rose. Their training lasted for hours, with physical improvements in the morning and under my instruction in the afternoon.
“So how does the ether work?” I decided to start with a review.
“The ether works as an intermediary between our intentions and the forces of nature. With it we are able to bend the laws of nature to suit our goal.”
“Good. Now how do you determine which force of nature to use?”
“I thought the ether determined it.”
“If you let it.” I smiled, “Make a fireball.”
Olivia held out her hand, and after a few seconds she had a fist-sized fireball floating above her hand. Sweat began to break out on her face from the struggle of keeping it formed.
“Keep it formed, and explain how you made it.”
“I drew in heat until the spot was hot enough to become flame. Then to shape it I wrapped it in wind.” Olivia grunted in concentration as the ball wavered before stabilizing. “The wind keeps it off my hand so I don’t get burned.”
“And you are struggling with forming it and keeping it.” I had half a dozen fireballs dancing above me. “You’ve seen me do this before, so how do I do it?”
“I don’t know.” Olivia shouted in surprise as the fireball expanded rapidly and dispersed. “Damn.”
“Drawing in heat to make the fireball makes sense logically. Using wind to keep it contained also makes sense. It’s inefficient though.” I let the fireballs shrink until they were no more than pinpricks and then sent them to the ground. “Do you notice how cold the air is now?”
“Yes.”
“Creating fire by pulling in heat requires a lot of control. What other ways can fire b
e made?”
“I don’t know.” Olivia recovered her breath. “Sparks from flint and tinder?”
“You’ll have to figure it out.” I walked over to the fallen trunk and reached for the bow and arrows I had stashed earlier. “Next lesson. Block the arrows.”
Before she could react I shot an arrow at her. It sliced her arm, and I fired another one at her. This one stopped before it could reach her as did the others I continued to fire until the quiver was empty. Over a dozen arrows were suspended in midair, bobbing slightly on the wind.
“How did you stop the arrows?”
The Crimson Road Page 12