“Dusty, you did very well back there at the docks, and earlier with the sorcerer,” he said.
“Thanks,” I said.
“You said your nation is at war to defend its neighbor?” he asked.
“Yeah, basically the pirates in the area have grown to outnumber their navy, so they decided they wanted the territory for themselves,” I said.
“That’s a truly noble cause, and I am sure your fellow warriors are sorely missing one of your abilities,” he said and then lay down to sleep next to his sister.
I wondered about that exchange for a bit. We had talked a little about the war as we walked the other night, and he seemed extremely interested in that aspect of my background. Shea was always encouraging me, telling me how smart I was, and similar comments, but Craig was more reserved. I wondered if she had told him to be more positive around me.
The night passed without incident, and shortly after dawn we resumed our travels to the trading outpost. Craig pushed a harder pace than previously, as he hoped to make it to the outpost by sundown. It was a struggle to keep up with them, but the thought of a nice warm bed kept me going.
That hope was dashed to pieces when we came over a hill, and the old man that had captured me came into sight. He was standing there all alone with his arms spread to his sides as if trying to say, “I am harmless,” but I knew better.
Craig did not wait for the old man to make a move or say anything; he crossed in front of me and drew his sword, which was now glowing a bright blue. As Craig slowly walked towards the old man, Shea grabbed my arm and whispered, “Run!”
“Now, now, there is no reason to be concerned. I just want to see my good friend Dusty,” said the old man.
When he said my name, I felt myself being drawn to him. I could only think about how he saved my life, fed me that wonderful aupessi, and the luxurious swim in the ocean. I turned towards him and started to walk, but Shea jumped in front of me and did her best to stop my forward movement.
“DUSTY!” she yelled. “The sorcerer has you charmed! Resist it and get out of here!”
Sorcerer? I thought as I shook my head. It was getting fuzzy again, and I could not think clearly.
“Now, my dear Shea, no need to call me foul names. I mean no harm. After all, I did save his life,” said the old man.
I tried to think, but my mind was so fuzzy. I tried to look at the old man, but Shea kept blocking my view, encouraging me to resist. My mind wandered back to the swim in that wondrous ocean full of fresh fish that were unusually easy pickings.
“Dusty, listen to me. Focus on my words. He is trying to trick you. Cast a defensive spell against his charms, and you will see,” said Shea.
I tried to push past her but she had dug in her feet. There was no way I was going to get by her without hurting her. I shook my head again, trying to shake the fuzziness out of it when I heard Craig call out with his warrior cry. Then Shea collapsed on the ground in front of me as light and power exploded around us.
“Dusty, help me!” called out the old man as Craig pressed his attack, swinging his sword with great and mighty blows. Sparks and thunder erupted every time he connected with some kind of shield that was around the old man.
Seeing Shea go down gave me a moment of clarity. I scooped her up and quickly cast Shadow Form. Once I was cloaked, I could feel my head clear up. I felt the old man desperately searching for me, but the one thing I was good at was hiding, and he was no match for me in that arena. Carrying Shea and moving as quickly as I could without breaking my cloak, I pushed on to the trading outpost. I reached the gates a little after sunset, as they were closing. I knew I would not make it before they locked them shut, so I risked canceling my spell and cried out, “Help!”
In response, I saw torches light up near the gate and move quickly towards me. I ran as fast as I could and stumbled, spilling Shea onto the ground and taking a bad fall myself. Soon men from the town were surrounding us and helping me up.
“What happened?” asked one.
“Attacked in the woods, please help her, and Craig … oh no, Craig!” I said as I turned to head back, but was stopped by the guard.
“Who attacked you?” he asked.
“Some old man, I don’t know, but Craig was still fighting him! I have to go and help!” I said. In a panic, I tried to run back to Craig, but the guards restrained me.
“That’s a mage bolt in her back,” said one of the guards.
“As crazed as he is acting, I believe it. Send a patrol to see if we can find this Craig. This skinny fellow could not have come all that far carrying her,” said the first guard.
I fought as hard as I could to break free and go out there, but I could not. “Easy there, we will help your friend, but we need to get both of you into the town quickly if we are to help her,” said one of the guards.
I sighed and gave in and said, “Will she make it?”
“Probably, if we get her to the temple quickly,” he said.
As the guards brought us into the town, a group of men riding some kind of animal charged back in the direction from which I had come. As soon as they were gone the gates to the town were sealed, and I could see men hurrying up on to the walls. The guards led us through the town to a large, ornate building. As we approached I saw several men dressed in very plain robes, waiting to meet us.
These men must have been doctors of some kind because they immediately took Shea in and started to treat her. I watched them work, and with my magical awareness up I could sense power build in them, but it was nothing like the magic I knew and understood. Instead it was more like the magic that I saw around Craig. It was a pure power, but I could not tell what it was doing or how it was doing it. Soon it became apparent that it was some kind of healing magic, as I could see color return to Shea’s face, and her breathing became deeper and more regular.
“She will be fine now. She just needs some rest,” said the man that was taking care of Shea.
I moved and sat next to her bed and said, “I will wait.”
“Certainly, I will have someone bring you some food and a bedroll,” he said and then left.
Dusty, you failed again, and this time you almost got Shea killed! I thought to myself. I should have known that man was a sorcerer. How is it that Craig and Shea could tell so fast, and I was so blind?
Chapter Thirty-Three
The next morning when I awoke I saw Shea, who looked much better than when I had last seen her. She had changed into clean clothes, and there was a gentle aroma of some kind of flower about her. She must have had a bath because, for the first time since I had met her, her hair was clean and flowing around her face, instead of the tangled mess it had been.
“How are you doing, Dusty?” she asked.
I got up begrudgingly from the soft animal-skin mat where I had slept, which felt like a little piece of paradise compared to spending the better part of a week traveling on foot and sleeping on hard, unforgiving ground. “Better,” I said, but then the memories of the previous day came slamming in. “Where is Craig?” I asked.
“Resting,” she said. “By the time the patrol had found him, the sorcerer had left him for dead.”
“Will he be all right?” I asked.
“The priests think so, but he is in for a long healing process,” she said. “Come, let’s get some breakfast.”
“Can I see him?” I asked.
“No, he needs to rest,” she said and then took me to a large room where some humans served us a meal of meat that I did not recognize. I ate in silence, trying not to think about how I had failed these new friends. After all, I am the wizard; I should have protected them from the sorcerer and not fallen victim to his charms.
“Dusty, it could be weeks before Craig can travel again,” started Shea. “I do not think you should wait. You need to get back to your people and your war.”
“It’s doomed! I’ll never make it in this world alone,” I said.
“Nonsense!
We will make it. After we eat, we will head out into the town and buy supplies for the trip,” she started.
“We?” I interrupted.
“Yes, we. Did you think I was going to abandon you?” she asked.
“Well, I thought you would stay with your brother,” I said. “Won’t he be upset if you leave him behind while he is hurt?”
“He’d flay me alive if I sent you off alone,” she said. “Now, neither of us has any money, but Craig is well-known in these parts, so we can probably buy some stuff on his tab,” she said.
“How are we paying for this food, then?” I asked.
“Dusty, this is a temple of Light,” she said as if that cleared everything up.
“Okay, does that mean you have some relationship with them so that you don’t have to pay?” I asked.
“Yes, but beyond that they feed the poor, like us, for nothing. They also provide free healing services,” she said.
“Wow, that’s really generous,” I said.
After eating we left the temple and headed into the town where we found various different outdoor shops with many creatures of different races shouting about the superiority of their wares. Having traveled to tourist locations in my own realm, I knew enough to ignore them, and Shea seemed to be on a direct path to somewhere special. Soon we arrived at a small shop which, unlike the places we had passed by, was contained inside a building. Inside were a large variety of random goods that did not really seem to share a common theme. While Shea spoke with the storekeeper, I wandered around and examined the odd array of wares.
A small hand axe caught my eye. It was made from a single piece of metal and had some type of animal skin wrapped around the handle to provide a firm grip. It was light, fast, and glowed faintly to my magical awareness. I could not tell what the magic was, but it was one of the few things in the shop that was enchanted. That gave me an idea, so I picked it up and walked over to Shea and asked, “Do we have enough to get this?”
She looked at me with surprise and said, “An axe? Well, maybe, but our limited funds would be better spent on food and other necessities of travel.”
“Shea, I can use this,” I said while still working out how to do what I planned.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, that axe would use up all your credit,” said the shopkeeper.
“It’s worth it,” I said, and then I walked up to him and said, “Hold the rest of this stuff, if you do not mind, and we should be able to square up by tomorrow.”
“Certainly,” he said.
Shea looked at me and said, “What are you up to?”
“Follow me, and I will show you,” I said. I took the axe and headed out of town into the woods, looking for some nice young growth. After walking for a while, I found a tree with some branches that would fit the bill perfectly. I climbed up and cut some of the branches that were still young and supple and then cut the branches into five forty-centimeter long sticks. “Please keep watch over me while I work. This is still very hard for me and requires all my focus.”
Shea nodded, and I went to work whittling the sticks down while slowly and quietly chanting, “Pyraulous pagou,” over and over, pouring its power into the sticks until each started to glow with power. Soon I had five perfectly straight wands that were each thirty centimeters long and were capable of casting a dozen ice bolts in the hand of a competent wizard.
I looked up from my handiwork and saw Shea had been busy making potions. At some point she must have left and come back because there was food waiting for me. That bothered me a little, but I was too drained mentally from creating the wands to care much about anything other than eating.
As I tucked the wands into my armor and approached the food Shea asked, “Ah, you must be done then?”
“Yes, and I am ravenous,” I said.
“Well then, eat up! I was able to get the attention of a local patrol, and they watched over you so that I could hunt for reagents and get some food from the temple. I figured if you were going to make us wands to sell, I could chip in and make some potions,” she said.
“I’m hoping only to sell one or two, as they will be useful should we be attacked again,” I said.
“I assume those are bolts, then?” she asked.
Each of the offensively focused lines of magic had its own bolt spell that was often referred to by the general name of mage bolt. Since I am an ice-based wizard, my bolts are ice bolts, while Flame’s would be fire bolts. They are the first offensive spell any wizard learns and typically the most versatile to use in combat, as they scaled up with a wizard as he grew in power. “Yes, they are ice bolts,” I said.
“Let’s head back to town then and see what we can get for them. I am sure between one of those wands and some of these potions we should be able to cover what we need.”
We packed up the campsite and headed back into the town. I must have spent the majority of the day working on those wands without realizing it, as it was nearing nightfall when we finally reached the shop where we had purchased the axe earlier. Shea was able to sell him one of the wands and a few potions for what seemed like a fairly large amount of money, as she was able to pay for everything and still had a bag full of coins left over.
Once we finished our business there, we headed back to the temple for dinner, but as we were walking it occurred to me that we could not eat there anymore. “Shea, where are we going to eat now?” I asked.
“The temple, of course,” she said.
“Well, we can’t eat there anymore,” I said.
“Why ever not?” she asked.
“Because we are not poor,” I replied.
She laughed and said, “It’s okay. They accept donations too.”
“Then we should donate extra,” I said.
“How much did you have in mind?” she asked as we approached the temple doors.
“I don’t know, do we have a lot? I’d like to see us cover other travelers like ourselves that might not have wands and potions to sell. Maybe a year’s worth of a group like us eating here?” I asked.
“Wow, that is very sweet of you. We could do that, but it would take almost all of our funds,” she said.
“Then we can sell another wand. I can make more,” I said.
She walked up to the collection box with a huge grin on her face, dropped the entire bag of money into the coffers, and then said to the guard, “Sir, we would like a meal and beds for the night.”
“For you, Mistress Shea, it would be our pleasure. Come on in.
I was not sure what had just happened, but something changed when we made that donation. The world looked a little brighter, and the air seemed a bit cleaner. No, that was not it; it was as if some kind of shadow had lifted, allowing me better perception.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The next day, after selling another wand Shea and I booked passage on one of the many trade caravans that passed through this outpost taking goods between the southern and northern kingdoms. Booking passage on these caravans was nothing like what I would have expected based on my travels back in the Vydorian Realm. Here, when you booked passage it was more of an agreement to travel together in a large group for mutual safety than actually getting passage. We had to provide all of our own supplies and our own horses to ride on.
A horse, as it turned out, was a large beast that had been trained to carry people, pull wagons, and haul supplies for long distances, and apparently at much greater speeds than any human could travel otherwise. I had never even heard of such a thing before and spent most of the morning getting tutored by Shea on the basics of controlling one of these great beasts. Thankfully I had some knowledge of animal husbandry from my years as a prospect, which helped me understand the beasts. It seemed amazing that such a large and powerful creature would obey the gentlest commands, and I was very worried that if it should ever decide it did not like listening to what I asked it to do, it would take off, do its own thing, and there would be nothing I could do abou
t it.
As we left the outpost and the lush forest that had been our home for the past week the scenery shifted to rolling plains of deep green grass. After another day of travel the green grass faded away to reveal a blackened landscape filled with the petrified remains of all manner of people and beasts. The stench over the land was almost overpowering and caused tears to well up in my eyes and made me light-headed. The whole caravan seemed to pick up the pace a little, and everyone was quiet and alert as we traveled through this dark region. Shea, who had been riding next to me the whole time, pulled in a bit closer and clutched the wand I had made for her before we had left town.
“What is this place?” I asked in a whisper.
“The southern edge of the Shadow Lands. We should clear it by nightfall,” she said with a distinct lack of confidence in her voice.
“And if we don’t?” I asked.
“Then we keep riding till we do,” said a man nearby who had a crossbow at the ready while constantly scanning the area.
No one looked comfortable about being here, and true to the man’s words we traveled well into the night until we were back on the grassy plains where we finally made camp for the night. Once we had tended to our horses, we joined a group of fellow travelers that were gathered around a fire. Once we had settled in I asked Shea, “What was that place?”
“It is where the last battle was fought between the sorcerers and wizards in the Second Great War,” she said.
“Aye, that it is: a gruesome, cursed place,” said an older man whom the group had taken to calling Pa. “Those wretched magi, the whole lot of them, we would be better off without them!”
“Sorry, I am not from around here, but I thought the wizards fought to defend everyone from the sorcerers?” I asked.
“You heard wrong, stranger. The wizards fight the sorcerers, aye, but only because they hate each other,” he said.
“Aye, don't be around when they fight. You’ll end up accursed like those vile creatures that live in the Shadow Lands,” said another.
I kept quiet while the others joined in with nothing but foul words for magi of all kinds. From their perspective, the wizards of this realm were only slightly better than the sorcerers in that wizards will not go after mundanes without just cause, unless they happened to be fighting a sorcerer. Then it mattered not at all to them to destroy lands, families, or anything else, as long as they beat the sorcerer.
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