Spellscribed: Provenance

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Spellscribed: Provenance Page 5

by Kristopher Cruz


  Endrance drew himself up, trying his best to look respectable. “I am a newly entitled wizard. I am travelling to Ironsoul to take up a new line of work in the area.”

  It was quiet for a moment. Endrance watched Ked stare him in the eye for a moment, trying to gauge if he was joking. He had to struggle inside, but he resisted the urge to smirk at him.

  “Well.” Ked responded after a minute’s pause. “That would definitely be an asset to our caravan, if you are being honest with me.”

  Endrance opened the satchel slung across a shoulder and withdrew his spell book. Would you like me to do a demonstration?” he asked. Though he didn’t see it, he could hear some of the townsfolk who saw him do so start moving away as impolitely as they dared. It wasn’t that they hated him or anything, there was just a few times where one of his learning exercises ended up getting out of control and frightening the daylights out of some of the people there.

  He scratched at his gut again as he thought. “Well, I seem to remember hearing there being a kid who was training to be a mage last time I came by. You seem about the right age; I suppose you can come along, provided you carry your weight, one way or the other.”

  Endrance smiled broadly at him. “Thank you, sir. I will be ready to depart tomorrow.”

  “Best be early in the morn.” Ked replied. “We’re setting out at suns-rise.”

  The final night before the caravan left was rough on the young wizard. He lay in his bed for the last time and he couldn’t sleep. Though he lay comfortably and his body was relaxed, his mind kept racing off the moment he stopped paying attention to keeping it reigned in. He wasn’t sure when he eventually passed out, but he must have lain in bed for hours before sleep finally came upon him.

  He was awakened too few hours later to his father pounding on the door to his room. He washed and dressed himself quickly, and gathered his things up. The caravan was already hitched up, and he had a scant few minutes to throw his things in the back of the last wagon before they set off. He said a quick farewell to his father, and promised him that he’d write whenever he could afford to.

  As the suns rose that dawn, the caravan set off at a steady pace. Endrance sat on the back bench on the last wagon for a while, watching until Wayrest had shrunk too far off in the horizon for him to see. He hadn’t the time for a proper goodbye that day, but he had the time over the month leading up to that moment to let everyone he cared to know where he was going and that he would be gone for a long time. Once Wayrest was out of sight, he hopped off the wagon and walked alongside it, moving towards the lead wagon and taking in the caravan’s formation.

  It was as slow as a walk, but much safer than travelling alone. The five covered wagons travelled in a chain, each one following the one before it, and the caravan master’s wagon in the lead. Thirty men guarded the caravan total, and were broken up into shifts of fifteen men on the ground at a time. The men on the ground walked alongside, in front, and behind the caravan, spread out in a loose sort of boundary that could react to an unexpected situation quickly.

  The men on the ground would switch with the men sitting on the sides of the wagons every couple of hours it seemed, allowing them to rest in shifts and still maintain a march while encumbered with armor and weaponry. They wore light steel breastplates, helms and longswords, with shields bearing the clenched fist of Ironsoul’s home guard.

  Each wagon was as large as Endrance’s old home, and rolled on spoked wheels as far across as a man stretched. The horses were of a large, sturdy kind, bred for endurance and not speed.

  He eventually made his way to the front, smiling and greeting anyone who even looked at him as he walked ahead. On the third wagon a little girl peeked at him from behind the canvas flaps on the back, and poked her head out the front to watch him as he passed the wagon by. Everyone he greeted smiled back and waved, even if it were a cursory manner.

  When he reached the foremost wagon, he looked up to see the caravan master sitting alongside his driver, a modestly attractive older woman, very likely his wife. She smiled at him, her flaxen hair lightened by the dawn’s light. “Good morn, miss.” She greeted him.

  Ked had been looking ahead and glanced over when he heard his wife speak. His eyes widened when he heard her address him and reached out to touch her shoulder. “Oh, not a miss.” He corrected her, smiling over her head at the young mage. “A sir. And a practitioner at that.”

  She frowned faintly, but it quickly returned to a pleasant smile. “Well, good morn to you, sir wizard. My name is Beatrice” She greeted. “Is there anything you need?”

  Endrance shrugged, hopping over a rock in the road before he tripped on it. “My name is Endrance.” He began. “I needed nothing in particular. I was merely seeking to find out how I can be of help to the caravan during our journey north.”

  “Oh that’s easy.” Beatrice replied, flicking the reins to keep the horses moving. “You just do your wizard thing and help the caravaners however you can.” She sniffed, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as she looked down the road. “You don’t look like much of a wizard though.”

  Endrance smirked. “Well, I’m still relatively new at this, hasn’t been time for the beard to grow in.”

  She frowned, glancing back at him. “I thought you looked young. Well, hopefully you can be of help.” she blew air through her lips. “And if you know any of that flashy stuff, it wouldn’t hurt either.”

  “Oh? Why is that?” Endrance asked, his curiosity perked up.

  “Bandits are much less likely to attack us if they think we have a wizard travelling with us.” She explained. “Lots of people don’t like the idea of getting burned alive with magic.”

  “It’s not like it makes you any more dead than if one of the soldiers here ran them through with a sword.” The young wizard countered.

  “Does it?” she asked, looking over at him.

  “Well, mostly.” Endrance shrugged. “A properly placed and prepared spell could take the place of a dozen swords in the right situation.”

  Beatrice nodded. “I once saw a magus at the high temple in Ironsoul. He struck down twenty of those feral wolf-men with a wave of his hand and a word.” She shuddered. “They just… fell over, clutching at their chests, and this mist floated outta their bodies and into his mouth.” Despite the warmth of the early morning suns, she pulled her clothes tighter around her. “I don’t think anyone should die like that, never.”

  Endrance whistled. That was some serious magic. Spirit magic like that teetered on the verge of necromancy. That practice was pure heresy to the holy circle of magi. To be able to pull a complicated spell off like that without harming innocent bystanders, and to sling the spell on top of it all, was bordering on fantastic. He shook his head, amazed. He had so much yet to learn.

  “I have a few spells that might help.” He replied at last. “And while I can’t do something that dangerous, I’m sure I can be of assistance against bandits.” He remembered the gout of flame he threw against his master before with a tug of pride.

  “That’s a relief,” Ked interjected. “Why don’t you go on back and have a seat, we’ve got a long ways to go before we stop for the night.”

  Endrance nodded and slowed his pace, letting the wagons start pulling past him. He winked at the little girl watching from the third wagon, and she let out a small yelp and pulled her head back inside. He grinned as he hopped up onto the back bench of the last wagon and let his feet dangle off the end, kicking his legs as he watched the countryside slowly roll by.

  The suns rose, and the world brightened and got warmer. He leaned back against the canvas of the wagon cover and closed his eyes a moment. Though the ride was too bumpy for him to completely drift off to sleep, the warmth suffused him and he drifted for quite some time. He opened his eyes some time later to see the suns had made it a ways closer to midday.

  The soldier walking in the back was nearing the end of his shift, and when his replacement came he trotted up to the benc
h Endrance relaxed on and hopped without ceremony. The man was lean, but taller than Endrance. His simple helmet left his face clear, except for the studded nose guard down the middle. His skin was dark, and eyes blue. He smiled an easy smile at the young mage and nodded his head to him.

  “It must be hard.” He said.

  Endrance looked back at the man out of the corner of his eye. Was he going to get hit on again? “What’s hard?”

  “Being so fair skinned out in the suns.” the soldier stated, drawing a waterskin from his belt and taking a pull. “If I were you I’d be worried about getting a burn.”

  Endrance shrugged. He hadn’t thought about that, but nothing he could do about the suns now. “It doesn’t look like something you have to worry about.” He responded to the man with a smile. “You’ve been on the roads much?”

  The man laughed, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Yes, yes I have, I s’pose.” He commented. “M’name’s Ethan.” He stated, holding out the skin. “Want a drink?”

  Endrance reached out to take the skin, but paused with his hand on it. “What’s in it?” he asked.

  Ethan laughed again. “Jus’ water,” he replied. “Only a green recruit or a fool drinks anything different on a long march.”

  He accepted the water and took a swig, handing the skin back. “Thanks.” He said.

  “No worries.” Ethan responded. “We pull fresh barrels of water at every town or village we stop at, and clean out the stale stuff, if there’s any left.” He gestured at him with the skin. “This here’s some fresh Wayrest well water, I reckon.” He looked back over at the young man. “I don’t suppose you’re going to miss being at home.” He said. “You got the look of someone on their first journey.”

  “Oh? How was that obvious?” Endrance asked.

  “You notice quite a few things about a man,” he began, shrugging, “or a woman, if you just pay attention to the little details. Things about how they carry themselves, the way they look at the world around them. The way they talk to strangers, and dozens of other things.”

  “Really?” Endrance asked. “That’s amazing that you could pick up on all those things.”

  The soldier shrugged. “It’s not like it’s that hard, once you’ve gotten used to it.” He jerked his head towards the front of the caravan. “Also, the caravan master came by and told us to be nice to the new wizard.”

  “Oh.” Endrance stated. “Well, that made it easy.”

  “Sure did.” He said with a grin.

  “So Ethan,” Endrance began. “Tell me about this route. Is there anything I should be concerned about?’

  Ethan shrugged, scratching his chin. “Nothing beyond the usual. Bandits and thieves mostly, though I heard there were goblins in the area.” He stretched his arms out, and scratched under his breastplate before continuing. “Most of the time they leave us alone, unless they got themselves a new leader.”

  “A goblin king?” Endrance asked. “I was told that he was slain by the Celestial Knight a few years ago.”

  “Aye.” Ethan confirmed. “Goblin King Grush, and over half of his horde fell when the Knight took to the field.” He smiled. “I wasn’t there, but the men who had seen him still talk about his battle prowess to this day. The stories are so inflated that it seems almost impossible for him to have fought so many on his own.”

  Endrance shrugged. “I wouldn’t put much stock in tales told over ale, unless you saw it yourself.”

  “Truth.” Ethan grunted. He nodded to the large book by Endrance’s side. “Is that your spell book?” he asked.

  Endrance picked it up and held it out to him. “Sure is. Want to take a look?” he asked, winking.

  The soldier held up his hands, but not quite touching the leather cover. “Naw, I’ll pass,” he said. “Us experienced men at arms know better than to try reading a mage’s books.”

  “Suit yourself.” Endrance replied, flipping the book open and paging through to where he had planned on furthering his study.

  The soldier watched him quietly for a moment.

  “Say, I never did get your name.” Ethan said after a minute or two of silence.

  “Oh, my name’s Endrance.” He responded without looking up from the pages.

  The soldier nodded, leaning back and stretching out his legs in silence.

  Chapter 05

  The caravan pulled off the road near sunsset along a grassland that seemed more than safe enough. Endrance noticed signs that other wagons had been there before: shorter grass where the drivers tied off the horses after unhitching, parts of the field bore the dirt from the repeated churning of wagons rolling through the same spots. Other myriad little details seemed to magically appear once Endrance put a mind to looking for them.

  He had gotten bored studying his spells, since he could only read through them and not practice any of them while the wagons were on the move. So instead he talked with Ethan and his comrades, learning how to keep his eyes and ears open. It seemed so simple, yet most people never did it. They just kept their head down and went about their business, missing many of the wonderful sights that were just over their heads.

  He spent the last several hours trying to spot specific things that they requested him to find. At first it was simple, like to identify which man had the highest grass stains on his boots. The difficulty increased as they travelled, where eventually he was asked to spot and catch a single red pebble amidst a dozen gray ones that were tossed in the air at the same time.

  His eyes were scratchy and tired, and his head hurt from staring too hard at everything they asked him to focus on, but it was an appealing change of pace from staring at books all day. He might as well exercise his eyes so he wouldn’t wear them out so quickly in the future. There were also more short term benefits to learning these tricks, and he was glad to add them to his repertoire.

  Endrance helped set up their camp as best as he could, but ended up on the sideline for most of it. So he just watched, and learned. One of the things he was really good at, he took to learning something like it was what he was meant to do. He didn’t have a perfect memory; he forgot things on occasion. He did, however, have the ability to recall things he was specifically paying attention to.

  He was certain that the next night he would be able to contribute to the setting up of camp. For tonight he would just get in the way, so he kept quiet and ate his dinner when it was handed to him by the kindly woman with the large cauldron making food for everyone.

  That night he helped others out where he could, which was predominantly him taking local herbs and compounding a salve for foot blisters. The soldiers, who had to walk for several more days were grateful. Ethan in particular was glad, and insisted on showing him the massive blister that his salve helped heal, despite Endrance’s attempts to passively decline.

  He could tell the people of the caravan were happy, many laughed and joked with each other. The caravaners seemed to be less of travelling businessmen and more like a large family on a journey. That night alone he heard more names and had attached to them more faces than he could count, and ended that night crawling into his bedroll unsure if he was going to remember their names at all.

  He awoke to a single deep, low drumbeat in a panic. His hand clutched at his chest and he broke out into a cold sweat instantly. He realized he was breathing hard, and forced himself to steady himself. He looked around frantically, and it seemed everyone had awoken in a similar way.

  His skin tingled, an irritating, itchy sensation. Endrance ran his hands over his arms, but only felt smooth skin. No bugs of any kind, and his brain finally kicked the doors of confusion in. Magic, magic woke everyone up. It didn’t even have the courtesy of being well composed. From as best he could sense from the aftereffects of the magic that washed over him, it only did its work because the magic was so poorly constructed it agitated anything with any sort of magical energy in it at all.

  He pulled a shirt on over his chest and crawled out of his bedroll. The cool night ai
r would normally feel pleasant, but in the wake of the drum it was just another agitation to his skin. He shook his head as he walked to the outer ring of the caravan circle to try to clear the lingering effects from his body. The opposing energy bled invisibly from his body, and by the time he reached the man on watch he felt no longer afraid, just tired.

  The soldier turned his head to take in the young mage as he approached, his face concerned and not entirely without fear. “Oh it’s you, sir mage.” He responded.

  “Yes. I was trying to figure out what that was, sir… Perd?” Endrance replied, trying to remember the young soldier’s name through the list of others he had pushed on him the last day.

  “Yes, I’m Perd.” The man replied, looking back out over the dark night. “I never heard them before, but some of the men here have before. They’re goblin drums, sir mage.”

  A chill ran down his spine. “Goblins?” he asked. “I thought they only used the drums when they went to war.”

  The man nodded grimly, gripping the handle of his sword at his hip tightly. “And they only go to war when they have a leader.” He finished for the mage.

  The shiver down his spine turned to dread as he considered this. The last time the goblins had been allowed to unite under their king, they stood on the verge of sweeping through both Ironsoul and Salthimere’s kingdoms, destroying everything. Only the swift action of a small group of dedicated people was able to draw their attention long enough for the kingdoms to build up a defense. Even then, the Celestial Knight alone was the factor in the prior wars, having beheaded their king and scattering the goblins to the winds.

  “Surely they are not back in force.” Endrance posited. The soldier shrugged.

  “Most likely not, sir wizard.” He responded. “But it spells out trouble for us regardless. Even if only two dozen of them found something they would let lead them, one attack and they would overrun us before we could mount a defense.”

 

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