“Hana? Is that you.” It was Thessa.
“Thank the gods. I was worried about you, Thessa.”
“It isn’t safe for you out here.”
“Is it ever?” Hana quipped.
“You joke, but I know you are being hunted tonight and not by blood feeders. I heard Lord Sarren telling that Warden fellow he would catch you tonight and he would get answers one way or the other.”
“How did you hear him?” Thessa hesitated. “You know him, don’t you? Is he behind the blood feeders?”
Reluctantly, Thessa nodded.
“You knew! You knew exactly who turned you and the others in your alley.”
“Don’t be mad, Hana. I couldn’t tell you. I was afraid, but then I saw what you can do and I think I am more afraid of you now.”
“Don’t be scared of me, you are the one who can turn into some kind of killing beast. Speaking of which, what happened to those young men?”
“That was Lord Sarren. He plans something involving you, but he won’t share those plans with us.”
“Well, I’ll not give him the chance to move those plans forward, not with me at least.”
Thessa stared blankly at Hana before her expression turned to pain. “I’m sorry, Hana. I had to. He didn’t give me a choice. Forgive me.”
“What are you saying?” Hana heard a voice clear behind her. She turned to face Lord Sarren.
“I think it’s time for you and me to have a private and proper talk,” he said. “You have done well, Thessa.”
Hana turned to Thessa. “Why would you do this?” The pained feeling within her was nearly unbearable.
A tear ran down Thessa’s cheek and then the girl bolted off through the trees.
“This isn’t as bad as you might think. I just want to talk.” Lord Sarren said. “I will not ask you to come with me against your will. This doesn’t have to be difficult.”
“What do you want with me? Did my father send you?”
“Your father? No, I’m afraid I don’t know him. If you would accompany me to my carriage, I will show you everything.”
“I don’t believe I will be going with you.” She turned and scampered for the house. She only got a few steps before she felt the sharp sting in her neck. She reached up and pulled a needle fashioned with a feather from her neck.
“I thought you might run. I picked these darts up from one of the southern kingdoms. They use them for hunting wild animals. They are not fatal but you will be coming with me before the effects wear off.”
Hana felt woozy. She didn’t know when she fell, but she found herself on the ground right before the darkness came.
When Hana awoke, she was lying on a cloth sofa. Once her eyes adjusted she realized she was at home, in the Sephera household. The sunlight pouring in through the windows told her it was still early morning. She got up from the sofa to go to her room before the rest of the family woke up. The hallway was dark but she could clearly see a dark substance on the floor. She straddled it to get to the kitchen. Mistress Moira would be furious with her if didn’t get it mopped up by the time the woman rose out of bed. Hana stopped about halfway down the hall. Something was wrong. The last thing she remembered was Lord Sarren drugging her in the woods. She leaned down and touched the sticky, dark substance. The touch of it ignited her senses, which told her it was blood.
Someone was pounding on the front door as she ran down the hall to each of the Sephera children’s rooms. They were not home and no blood was present in their rooms. The pounding on the door became more forceful as she opened the final door to the master bedroom.
Hana dropped to her knees at the sight of mistress Moira in a pool of blood at the foot of the bed. Lord Immoran was feeding on one of her arms. He looked at her with fangs bared. She heard the front door began to break and splinter. Lord Immoran leaped for her. She held up her hands and twisted her wrists. Immoran whimpered as his neck cracked. He landed short of her still fidgeting.
Chapter 8 – Nightmares
“God gods! What is this?” The Warden said upon entering the master bedroom. He grabbed Hana by the arm and pulled her from her knees. “What has happened here?”
How was she to explain that Sarren turned Lord Immoran into a blood feeder? “I wasn’t here.”
“What? Speak up!”
“Lord Sarren drugged me last night and killed them. I woke up just now to find this.” She tried to pull away but the warden held her fast. “The children, I have to find the children!”
“You say Lord Sarren did this?”
“Yes, I ran into him in the woods last night and he drugged me and I just woke up here.”
“You’re mistaken. Lord Sarren and I were up most of the night making plans. He is on his way here now.”
“What, I have to go. I have to find the children.”
The Warden escorted her into the parlor. “Let us do our job. I will send men to look for the children. If they left a trail behind, we will discover it. We need to be calm and discuss what happened here.”
“No, I need to go before Lord Sarren gets here.”
“You’re not going anywhere. You are the only soul in a house of murder.”
Lord Sarren walked into the foyer and turned into the parlor. His brow was furrowed, but his lips contained a slight grin. “So, the boy was right. There was cause for us to come here at once.”
“In the master bedroom.” The Warden told him.
Sarren went to the scene of the crime and returned shortly. “I have you now! Arrest her, Warden.”
The Warden ignored him and turned to Hana. “Where is it that you come from, Hana, and tell the truth this time.”
“I told you, I come from across the river, from the village of Eil.”
The warden looked at her with disbelief in his eyes, “I talked to both Lord Immoran and mistress Moira about you and there is some of your behavior that is suspect.” He got Lord Sarren’s attention. “Is the boy with you?”
“Aye, I told him to wait outside.”
“Go to him and have him fetch the inspector and the other wardens. They need to investigate while the crime is fresh.” Lord Sarren left the room.
“Now, Hana, Mistress Moira told me you were shopping with her and an elvish gentleman was trying to get directions or something to that effect. Mistress Moira couldn’t help him or even understand him, but as soon as you thought she was out of earshot, you conversed with him in flawless elvish. Is what she told me true? Do you speak elvish?”
Hana nodded. “I grew up with an elf from Adendalind. It isn’t uncommon for folks of Vestia to learn the language. The two kingdoms share a border.”
“It is for the lower classes, of which you claim to be a member.”
Lord Sarren returned, “The boy is on his way.”
“Mistress Moira also said you cured a fever last winter. She said the healers could not find a cure.” The warden said.
“I used a simple white willow bark tea. The tea relieves pain and reduces fever. I was surprised the healers didn’t know about it. It is quite a common practice in Eil.”
“You lie! Let me take her to the cells, Warden.” Sarren said.
“Ask Lord Sarren about the blood feeders. He is one or at least he is their leader. He turned a bunch of poor folk from an alley in one of the cities of Ag Caderan. I can’t remember which. I befriended one of them. I can find her and she will tell you.”
Lord Sarren chuckled, “She is delusional. Blood feeders?”
“You also cured the youngest Sephera child of a wheezing cough, is that true?”
“Yes, it was by the inhalation of a plant used by any mother or even by a child with the breathing sickness. It is completely common. These are all just home remedies of my people. The poor folk can’t afford healers so they have to come up with remedies on their own. It isn’t unusual.”
“But these are remedies unknown to our trained healers, child. Surely you understand that you should not be able to do what they cannot.”
“I didn’t know that they couldn’t. I didn’t wait to see what they would or could do. I saw an opportunity to help and I did. They’re not worth much if they are ignorant of such easy, common methods!”
“You are being jaunty.”
“And you are being ridiculous. I didn’t do any of this. You are wasting time when you should be searching for the children.”
“You are the only person here. A peasant boy passing by this morning heard screaming and he ventured a look into the windows. He reported a young girl screaming she was going to kill everyone and an older woman pleading for her life. He was so frightened he ran straight for my office.”
“Oh, no! Thessa! The girl must have been her.”
“Who’s Thessa.” The Warden asked.
“The girl I befriended. She must have been involved in this at Lord Sarren’s bidding.” She tried to lash out at Sarren, but the Warden kept her seated.
“Do you know anything about this Thessa, Sarren?”
“Absolutely not. She is lying. No one has been in here but her.”
A figure appeared at the parlor door, “No, he lies!” Hana felt relief at the sound of Thessa’s voice.
“Who the devil are you?” The warden asked.
“I am Thessa.” She said. Her face was ashen and her eyes were still sunken and dark.
“What has happened to you, girl? You look like a corpse!”
Thessa pointed at Lord Sarren, “He did this to me.”
“Lord Sarren? What is the meaning of this?”
Sarren removed a long dagger from his belt, “Oh, for the love of the gods.” He said as he plunged the dagger into the surprised Warden’s chest and twisted until he stopped convulsing. He turned to Thessa who immediately got down on her hands and knees.
“Please, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
“Get up you insolent whelp.” He said.
A wicked smile crossed Thessa’s lips, “As you wish, Master.” She leaped from her submissive position to drive Sarren’s own dagger into his stomach as he was attempting to sheath it on his belt. He staggered back and fell. He pulled the dagger from his wound and it healed almost as soon as the blade was free.
He licked the blood off the blade ominously, “Ah, my own daggers and swords won’t harm me, child.” He sprang up and took Thessa by the arm. When his eyes connected with hers, she froze, mesmerized by his gaze.
Hana concentrated on the blood in the hallway. It lifted from the floor and floated into the parlor. Sparks of light began to arc through the whole of it. Lord Sarren’s eyes went wide with fear. He pushed Thessa into Hana to distract her while he ran from the house. Hana still kept control of the fuel for her power. Her eyes began to burn with the power.
“Your eyes! They are glowing red, Hana!” Thessa said.
“Get out of here. Go out the back, Thessa. Grab the cheese and the wafers of bread in the cupboard as you leave.”
“But, Hana.”
“Go! Go quickly!”
Thessa ran down the hallway. Hana waited a few more seconds until she heard the back door slam shut and then she unleashed her power on the walls of the house; all of them at once. The walls ignited in white hot flame, yet Hana felt nothing. She let the fire catch and then she walked calmly through the house and out the back door. She turned once more toward the house and raised her hands. All the windows exploded out with flames.
Chapter 9 – RUN!
“What will we do now?” Thessa asked.
“We run,” Hana said. “Did you get the food?”
“Aye, it’s right here.” She held up a leather shopping bag.
“Good, Lord Sarren will be after us soon. I think he is a blood feeder himself judging by what he did in the there.”
“Aye, he is. He is their leader.”
“It was foolish for him to leave so much blood in my presence.”
“Did he kill those people?”
Hana stopped. “It was Lord Immoran. Sarren turned him into a blood feeder. Didn’t you shout so that boy would hear this morning?”
“No, it wasn’t me.”
“Where have you been?”
“I was with Sarren when you were returned to the house. He was planning on taking you to the others but the Warden called him to a meeting so I helped him put you on the sofa. He told me to wait in the woods.”
“He must have seen it as an opportunity to frame me. He had Immoran kill them and then had the boy alert the Warden.”
“Why is he after you, Hana?”
Hana hesitated. She still didn’t fully trust the girl now, even though she seemed to try to make amends and come to her rescue. She could still be a ploy for Sarren. Then again, if Sarren was after her he already knew one of her secrets. It wouldn’t hurt to tell Thessa. It wasn’t her deepest, darkest secret after all. “Have you heard the tale of the Tournament of Mages?”
“No.”
Hana didn’t believe her but decided to go along with it. “Long story short, every one hundred years six mages are born, one to each of the six kingdoms. I am the Red Mage.”
“You are? What does that mean?”
“It means my life isn’t my own. I am supposed to fight in the tournament against the other five mages.”
“To the death?”
Hana shrugged, “I don’t know. I left before I found out. I was supposed to be trained but I ran away. I think Sarren was sent after me. I’m not sure, but I would assume that’s what is going on.” She hung her head. “I was thinking about moving on before this happened. I should have gone the moment I was attacked by the blood feeders. If I had the Sephera’s would still be alive.”
“Then you wouldn’t have me.”
“True, but you see, blood feeders are the perfect foe to come after me. My magic comes from the power of blood and the blood feeders must have fresh blood before I can do anything to them unless I cut myself, but that makes me too weak to fight them all off.” She wondered if she just told her little friend too much. “I can let one bite me and fight just fine so don’t get any ideas.”
“I would never dream of it,” Thessa said. “I’m sure there is more to your power if you had stayed for training.”
“Well, that’s where we are going now. The arena isn’t that far. I think it may be the only place safe for me now. The wizard that runs the tournament is said to have the power of all the mages. I will go to him and plead for him to let me go.”
“Will he do that?”
“I don’t know but it doesn’t hurt to try. The people from my… uh, village said that sometimes there is more than one mage born. Maybe I can be released from being the Red Mage before anyone else gets hurt.”
“What will you do if he releases you?”
“I am responsible for those children. I have to find them. In fact, I’m going after them no matter what the old wizard says.”
“If Lord Sarren took them he will turn them,” Thessa said.
Hana stopped again. “You think so?”
“Aye, he will.”
Hana looked behind her and then ahead, uncertain what to do now. She sighed and then started off again for the arena. “I turned you back. Maybe the wizard can tell me how I did it. Maybe he can help me turn you completely back.”
“I don’t think I would want you to do that. I like this way I am now. I told you I was weak and picked on before.”
“Come on. Pick up the pace.” Hana widened her stride.
“There is a flaw in your plan.”
“Oh?”
“If you are the Red Mage and the wizard will not release you or there is not another to take your place you are going to be in the belly of the beast, so to speak. If what you say is true and the wizard has the power of all the mages; how will you escape him, or your fate for that matter?”
“I’ll find a way. I have so far.”
“Really?”
“No one said my future was set in stone. I have to believe that my destiny is what I make it and not predestined.
”
“Sometimes you don’t choose your destiny but it chooses you.”
“That’s nonsense. If there are a roast duck and a roast chicken in front of me, I can choose to eat whichever I please and my choice isn’t predetermined by anything. My choice is based on my preference and tastes.”
“Why were you hiding then? Why didn’t you just run away to the wizard?”
“I think you answered you own question earlier. I’m only going now because I have no place else to run.”
Hana could see that Thessa was about to respond but instead she stopped and listened, holding up her index finger. “I heard something.”
“Blood feeders?”
“I don’t think so. It’s big and fast.”
Hana focused and picked up the heartbeat of something enormous. She glanced up at the sky when the daylight dimmed. “Gods! It’s a dragon.”
“Run!” Thessa said.
They both set off in a sprint. Hana wondered if she could touch the blood of the creature but when she tried she knew it was impossible. Dragons were magical and their blood was different somehow. She scanned the path ahead for anything to take cover. She didn’t think the dragon had seen them yet.
Finally, Thessa pointed to a creek bed with high, rocky sides. They both jumped over the edge and backed into the rocky incline. Hana felt the sharp pain of rocks impacting her back but she ignored it. The dragon flew overhead. It was greenish-brown and close enough to the treetops for its wings to fan the branches down. It didn’t appear to be looking for them. In fact, if it knew they were there, it was completely ignoring them. It traveled over them and away into the distance. Hana had never seen a dragon before. They were rare in Vestia and stayed primarily up in the mountains of Adendalind.
“That was something!” Thessa said.
“What is a dragon doing so far south do you think?” Hana asked.
“Hunting for deer or something I guess.”
Red Mage Ascending: Book 1 of Tournament of Mages Page 5