Endrance was silent for a few moments. “Not so,” he eventually replied. “If I remember my teachings correctly, goblins would not bother using the drums if they thought they could ambush us as we are now.”
The soldier’s face brightened a small amount. “That’s true. If they could they would rather slit our throats as we slept. There must be a bigger target nearby.” He turned to look at him. “The only two places I know of near here is a viridian kingdom outpost farther along the road about four days walk from here, or…”
“Wayrest.” Endrance finished. “I have to get word to them.”
“Whoa there, sir wizard.” The soldier responded, lightly touching the mage’s shoulder and quickly withdrawing his hand as the young man turned back to him suddenly. “Your town is most likely completely aware of them by now, given the drum. Don’t they have your master to rely on?”
Endrance quietly fumed. Of course master Kaelob was there. He would be able to help them, right? With his power, the goblins were probably doomed before they started. Endrance shook his head though. “My master lives almost an hour’s walk from the village. If they get attacked before they can get to him…”
“Well your master must have heard it too, right?” Perd asked.
Endrance shook his head. “No. His keep has simple protections worked into the stone. Simple effects like the drum wouldn’t even cross his walls. All he’d hear was a drum beat, and we wizards are notorious for not paying attention when we’re studying.”
The soldier spat. “Well, you better hope someone has the wit to get him soon. We don’t have the resources to send you back to them. If you leave to go back, you’re on your own. And against goblins.”
Endrance shook his head. “If I went, then I still wouldn’t get there for a day if I walked, and running will leave me too tired to do anything.”
Another man in armor approached, and Endrance couldn’t see who it was until he stood next to them. Ethan adjusted his helmet and settled his gaze on the young wizard.
“Sir wizard.” He greeted him, “I was hoping you would be able to do something to help protect us from the drums the goblins are using.”
Endrance looked over the camp. The families of the caravaners were huddled together near the fire, which someone had stoked up and added wood to. Their frightened faces framed in light and darkness as they sought comfort and shelter in each other.
As if on cue, the drum sounded again. The deep basso thump echoed through the camp, and many of the people cried out in fear and huddled closer. Endrance felt the hairs rise up all over his body and his first instinct was to bolt out into the darkness and hide. His skin itched horribly and it was all he could do to hold himself and stay where he stood.
The two soldiers to their credit did not flinch but immediately turned to look over the camp, and made sure nobody fled in a panic. They turned back to the wizard, and he could tell they were very worried.
Ethan spoke up; sweat visibly dripping down his face. “I think we are incredibly close to the goblin camp. That drum didn’t sound too far off.”
Endrance suddenly got an idea. “Do you think you could send a scout to find where it is specifically?”
Ethan looked startled. “Why on earth would I want to send someone to the goblins?” he exclaimed. “Even if he could make it there unnoticed, what good would it do to tell us where the goblins are?”
Endrance took a breath and cleared his head. Everyone was reacting to the magically induced panic the goblin drums were causing. He would need to sound perfectly reasonable or else no one would do what he needed. If only…
“Well, if you were to find where the goblin drums were coming from, I would be able to mount a suitable defense against their power.” He began explaining carefully. “If I know where it is coming from, I can create a barrier that will stop their magic from affecting us.”
While true, it wasn’t entirely the full reason he needed to find the drums. He could create a reasonably safe barrier that encircled the camp, but it wouldn’t be as powerful as a directed defense. The other reason was that if the goblins were closer to him than to Wayrest, he might be able to do something to divert them from the town. If it’s a small enough group, he might be able to stop them entirely, though he was highly doubtful of that.
Ethan grimaced. “The only soldier in our group with any kind of scout training is me.” He admitted. “I… guess I could try and find them, and report back.”
The young mage felt a moment of pain. It was his job to help these people and he was the only one who could, but would he have to do so by using others? Ethan could very likely die trying to get this information to him, and he could still protect the caravan moderately without it. Was it his right to send this man to his possible demise just so he could go and dance with his own?
No, he decided. This was more than just the caravan. The entire village of Wayrest was in danger. Many more lives than just this was in danger. If he had to send one man to his death in order to save a hundred, he would. Isn’t that better? He thought. Surely one life is not worth a hundred, or even twenty.
Endrance eventually nodded at Ethan. “Try to get as close as you safely can. If you think you have been discovered get back here as quickly as possible. I will be waiting to help divert any pursuit.” He held out a hand to stop Ethan before he stepped into the darkness. “Ethan… Thank you.”
Ethan didn’t look back, but nodded, adjusting his sword at his belt. “I just hope you’re good, Endrance. I will probably be back with something chasing me, if I come back at all.” And with that he vanished into the darkness.
Endrance looked down at the loose thread he had pulled off Ethan’s sleeve as he passed by. In the dim distant firelight it seemed so unimportant, yet to him it had estimable value. “Don’t worry Ethan.” He whispered. “I’ll bring you back, one way or another.”
Chapter 06
Ethan crept through the waves of grass, the starless night shrouding him from sight. He had been moving steadily at a slow pace, crouched low in the dark and only orienting towards the sound of the goblin drums. Though each beat got worse as he neared the goblin camp, he was able to resist the effects of the drum’s magic more effectively the more he felt it. He barely twitched now when it sent fear coursing down his spine.
He was pretty sure that was because he was insane. Only a crazy man would actually willingly go towards an enemy encampment. Or think they would survive long enough to report back about it. Insanity did have the small perk that fear seemed less of a prerogative after it set in.
He could see a flickering fire a few dozen yards away and carefully slunk his way towards it. He had to be getting close to the goblin camp. The sound of crushing grass froze him, and he held his breath as a dark shape passed by not a few feet in front of him. He couldn’t get a good look at it until it moved far enough away that he could see the firelight illuminate it.
The creature was stunted, only four and a half to maybe five feet tall. Though short its body was composed of knotted, cordlike muscle wrapping around a bow-limbed skeleton and covered in calloused, green-gray skin. It was wearing some kind of hide armor, and held a jagged, wicked looking forward bending blade with a leather wrapped handle. It walked in an odd off balanced lope, but its demeanor belied its deformed stature. Ethan could see that he had narrowly avoided detection as it cast its eyes about warily, suspiciously examining everything as it passed. The thing held it’s sword with the casual grip of someone who had been carrying it around for a very long time, and was probably not an inexperienced soldier.
Ethan gritted his teeth for a moment before looking around for more patrols. He eventually found two others, moving in a circular pattern. He must have found the outer perimeter of their camp. He knew he would be spotted if he remained there, so he moved with great caution along the outer edge of the patrol’s perimeter.
He found a small rise in the plains, a lump too small to be called a hill, and he moved up it only after the spot was b
etween two patrolling goblins. There he took off his helmet, and crawled on his stomach and elbows to where he could part the grass and look into the camp. The small fire in the goblins’ camp was not for their use directly.
Inside the camp he counted twelve goblins, not adding the three on patrol. He also counted five humans. Three adults and two children all bound in ropes and tied to posts around the fire. The goblins were taking turns amusing themselves by leaning one of the posts over the fire until the person on it was screaming into the gags from fear and pain as they were burned by the fire’s heat. They would then pull them back, put out any burning clothes, and do it again to a different one. Everyone there had scorch marks on their bodies, and the woman looked exceedingly battered.
He silently cursed, and slowly backed away. He righted his helmet on his head and started creeping directly away from the camp when he caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye. He jerked his head back and fell on his rear, but it saved his life as a jagged piece of metal shot past his face and disappeared into the darkness beyond him. He shot off into a sprint, erupting from the long grass.
One of the goblins on patrol had found the trail of trampled grass he had left behind and had nearly been on him when he had suddenly moved. The goblin brayed a warning in a tongue Ethan couldn’t understand, and he heard more of them start moving in the camp.
Oh gods, help me! He prayed as he ran for all he was worth. He could maybe kill one or two of them in a straight fight, but there were fifteen, and goblins never fought in a straight fight. As if he needed any further goading, the goblin drums sounded a quick staccato of three beats, causing his heart to almost explode in his chest as he flew into a completely blind panic.
He could only hope he could make it back to the camp before the goblins caught up to him. A crude spear flew past his left shoulder in the dark, and his hope dwindled.
Chapter 07
As soon as Ethan had left, Endrance sat down onto his bedroll and prepared. He drew his spell book out from his satchel and started reading through the spells he had successfully transcribed. It took him only a little time to re-familiarize himself with several of his spells, and he separately worked through the motions and then the words needed to cast them. He was interrupted several times by the beat of the drum, which seemed to have no set time or interval, but he endured. He would be getting into a life or death situation here, and he needed to be prepared. If he could destroy the drums maybe that would be enough to break the raiding party and send them back to the badlands.
Or at the very least, he could cause enough damage that they would no longer be able to attack Wayrest, and have to move on. No matter what, things didn’t look good for him. He was just one young man, and a newly accepted wizard at that. Even if Ethan came back alive and even if he had found the camp, he might not be able to do anything.
He shook his head and moved on to the next spell. He had to try. People’s lives depended on him. People who raised him and helped him grow up. People he respected and people that he loved. His father was there. He just could not ride on tomorrow and leave them to their fate. He would do something, he had to do something.
He had finished practicing his fifth spell when he heard shouting from the edge of the camp. He shot to his feet and ran to the outer guard, who had his shield unbuckled and his sword drawn.
Coming towards the camp at great speed was the barely recognizable form of Ethan, the glint of firelight off his helmet and wide eyes giving him away. He was running full out, breathing hard, and a scream seemed to trail from his mouth as he ran towards the camp. Behind him were four goblins. An ugly creature, Endrance had seen sketches of them in his master’s tomes in the keep and was prepared for their appearance. The four of them bounded after Ethan in an almost graceful uneven lope, swords drawn. Unlike their prey the goblins seemed hardly winded by their chase.
Endrance knew enough about goblin tactics to know they would shortly turn tail and retreat in the face of a larger community of foes. He didn’t want to give them a chance to. Ethan was sixty feet from him when he began chanting and forming signs with his hands and posture. He called to the magic, drew it into him and shaped it to his need. Ethan just blazed past him as Endrance finished shaping his spell and stepped forward with his right foot and jabbed out with the index and middle finger of his right hand.
“Fulmineus!” he shouted, and from deep in his chest lightning crackled up his throat, out his mouth and down his arm. The night became day for an instant, illuminated by the power Endrance was barely keeping in check. It leapt out from his fingertips and struck the farthest back goblin square in the chest.
The creature tumbled in mid stride and its corpse jerked in the dark grass, electricity still arcing off its body. The other three goblins skidded to a stop and glared hatefully at him. Two turned to run while the closest drew a long jagged piece of metal and hurled it at him. Endrance saw it coming but couldn’t respond to it as he was already channeling energy into his next spell.
The soldier still on watch, Perd leapt in between the mage and his foe, his shield flashing up and catching the blade. It sunk an inch into the metal but didn’t pierce any farther. He stepped back as Endrance had not changed his pose, and kept his two fingers pointed at the goblin on the ground. His left hand formed the mudra of primal directions and he incanted the last word of the brief spell he had practiced not moments before.
“Obversus catenatus” he finished, and with a twitch he flicked his pointing fingers towards the two goblins fleeing.
The lightning he had struck the first goblin with seemed to come alive and burst up from the first corpse into the air in a long arc, striking the closest retreating goblin in the back. It didn’t finish there, but arced again to the goblin beyond the second. Endrance flicked his hand and pointing fingers back to him, and the lightning jumped back to its final target. Moments later, four smoking goblin corpses twitched and jerked in the darkness.
Perd stood next to Endrance as men with torches went to check the bodies. He looked at the young man and whistled.
“Well, I’m sure glad you are on our side.” He said appreciatively. “And you say you’re new?”
Endrance didn’t respond at first, his ears were ringing. “Huh?”
“You said you were a new wizard?” Perd repeated. Endrance rubbed his ears and nodded.
“Yes,” he responded after opening his mouth wide and feeling his ears pop. “I passed my tests a month ago.”
“Can… any wizard do that?” Perd asked. “Throw magic that jumps from enemy to enemy?”
Endrance shook his head. “No, that spell is beyond my abilities at the moment. What I did was more complicated to pull off but made the same effect.”
“Right. Well, thanks.” The soldier said. “You saved Ethan’s hide, you did.”
“Thank you, Perd.” Endrance responded. “You saved my hide too.”
He shrugged. “Jus’ doing my job, sir.”
“So am I, Perd. So am I.” Endrance sighed. “I’ll go check on Ethan.”
As he walked away, he lifted his hand up so he could see it in the firelight. The first two fingers of his right hand that he used to direct the lightning against the goblins, were blackened and scorched. Thin black lines ran down his hand towards his wrist, tracing the lines of magic that had flowed through him. The fingers tingled and the rest of his hand felt too warm, but otherwise it didn’t hurt yet.
He grimaced and dropped his hand to hang loosely at his side, and shifted the sleeve of his shirt to cover most of it. He was not going to be able to use his hand until it healed, if his hand healed at all. Many wizards had ‘burned out’ before from using magic beyond their capabilities. Lingering wounds, damaged meridians, and even permanent aura damage.
That was the price a mage paid when they over exerted their power. As a mage improved in ability and practiced the art, their bodies grow accustomed to handling larger portions of their aura channeling through them. If they needed
, one could grab more power than they could safely handle, but like with any power, too much too fast can burn.
He thought about the burned and still crackling corpses he left behind. He had killed them. He reached out with magic and snuffed out four lives in the space of a breath, but he just felt numb to it. He had never killed anything before in his life, and he destroyed four with magic as if he had been an old hand at it. He didn’t try to suppress the shudder that ran through him. Was it really that easy? Was this what power like magic was for?
He found Ethan surrounded by his fellow soldiers. He lay sprawled on the crushed down grass near his bedding. Some of his comrades had unbuckled and removed his breastplate and helmet. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath and calm his heart. Ethan stared up at the night sky, his mouth slack and eyes unfocused. In the light and grass, Endrance could barely make out a trickle of drying blood trailing out his ears and down his neck. Flecks of foam stuck to the sides of his mouth.
“Ethan…” Endrance said softly, shaking the man’s shoulder gently with his left hand. The soldier’s breathing was slowing, but he did not respond. He shook his shoulder harder, and called his name more forcefully. “Ethan!”
Ethan finally blinked, and his eyes focused on the mage. “I…” he began, swallowing with a dry throat. Endrance gestured to one of the soldiers, who were already kneeling to give him a mouthful of water. He swallowed and cleared his throat weakly. “I believe I found their camp, sir mage.” He finally admitted, a faint smile touched his face. “Probably.”
Endrance sighed and nodded. “It would seem so. You made it back alive on top of it.”
Ethan’s chest jumped for a moment, and he winced. “Oh, don’t make me laugh. My chest already feels like it’s going to burst open.”
“Okay.” Endrance said. “How many were there?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.” Ethan responded. “Did you get the ones that were chasing me?”
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