Spellscribed: Provenance

by Kristopher Cruz

  “What?” the barbarian replied. “I decided the best avenue to attack you is the door.” He said, pointing to the door a few feet to Endrance’s side. “You just happen to be in the same direction. So are they scars?”

  Endrance looked down at his arms. The trace lines of his meridians were slightly visible but they weren’t so easily spotted from across the room. “What scars?” he finally asked.

  Joven looked puzzled. “The two on your back?” he asked. “It looks like someone tried cutting your shoulder blades out.”

  Endrance felt around his back, and felt there were in fact two long slashes of hot skin symmetrically across his spine from each other, nearly eight inches long. He knew he didn’t have those before, but he didn’t know how he had them now. “I… I didn’t have these before.” He muttered, glancing at Joven with worry across his face.

  Joven sighed. “You can’t seriously tell me you just magically got two long scars like that without knowing. Because I would bet you would have remembered physically getting scars like that.” He said, picking the large mirror off the dresser and handing it to the young mage.

  Endrance had to put down the shirt to hold the mirror, as it was heavy and unwieldy. How’d he casually pick this up with just one hand?

  Positioning it over his shoulder, he could see the scars out of the corner of his eye through the reflection. His meridian lines in those areas were an angry reddish color, and they seemed converge on the two slashes in his back. After looking at it as long as he could awkwardly, he put the mirror down and closed his eyes, focusing his mind.

  In his thoughts, he felt out his aura. It was the first thing any apprentice had to learn to do in order to learn any higher arts; it was in fact the first of the twelve sigils of mastery. His mind touched his aura, which served as the well of his power. As he rested, he gathered his power until his aura was ‘full’ of energy he could draw on at will. It was more than capable of growing in capacity, but that was something that came with time and practice. Part of it was a mental barrier as well as spiritual. There were other ways to fill his aura with power, but they were dangerously complex, or bordering on taboo like the first effect his bracer had shown him.

  He felt his aura respond to his mind, and its power curled up around him, eager to do his will. Unbeknown to the wizard, Joven’s eyes widened as faint wisps of gold-hued light brightened into view, their light coruscating around Endrance like a swirl of flickering wind. The light faded slowly like a candle on its last moments. Endrance opened his eyes, and frowned at Joven when he saw the expression on his face.

  “…What?” Endrance asked. Grabbing a clean pair of pants and thrusting a leg into it.

  Joven blinked his eyes clear. “You… sparkled.”

  Endrance glared at Joven. “What?” he repeated, this time with his own irritation.

  “You…” Joven said, scratching his head. “I guess, you were… on fire, but it was a golden color.” He explained poorly.

  Endrance sagged with relief. “Oh. For a moment there I thought you meant something else.” He said. “No, that was my aura. Certain meditations can make it visible to the naked eye when we use them.”

  “It doesn’t do that anytime you cast magic, does it?” Joven asked.

  “No. Well, certain spells may require in their long form ritual that a wizard touch upon their aura-” Endrance started explaining.

  “Hold on.” Joven said, holding up a hand. “You lost me there.”

  Endrance studied Joven for a moment as he pulled on his shirt. “Lost you where?” he asked.

  “The ‘certain spells’ part.” Joven admitted.

  Endrance sighed. “The short answer is, other than some exceptions, no.”

  “Oh. Why didn’t you say that then?” Joven quipped, standing. “You done… bathing?” he asked. “I’d like us to get going.”

  Endrance clicked the bracer back on his left arm. “Sure. We can get going, but I think it would be better if I got a horse. The trip is going to be a long one if I don’t.”

  Joven shrugged. “Sounds like a good idea. My horse wouldn’t carry you.”

  That didn’t surprise Endrance. “All right, I think I have enough coin to purchase a cheap horse, if there are any around. Do you think you can help me pick a proper one out?”

  Joven grinned, grabbing up his weapons and his small amount of packs. “I’m glad you asked.”

  Chapter 17

  Joven was quiet at first, riding alongside him as the horses set a brisk pace along the beaten earth road. After a few hours and the city walls had fallen out of sight, he turned partially towards him in his saddle and said, “So how is the horse?”

  Endrance looked over to him and shrugged. “I don’t know. I hardly have ever ridden one, excepting a few times on a neighbor’s workhorse during harvest season.”

  Joven chuckled. “You’re going to be sore tonight then.” He commented. A few more moments passed in silence. Endrance was only absent mindedly keeping pace with his horse, the paint horse they had purchased for the last of his money was a decent enough follower to not stray off the road. The young wizard seemed lost in thought, a habit that Joven noticed he entertained regularly.

  “Something on your mind?” he asked at last.

  Endrance blinked and looked at him again. “Oh.” He said faintly. “Yes. I’ve… I’ve been thinking of my home. I’m hoping they are all right.”

  “Your home?” Joven asked. “So you didn’t grow up in Ironsoul?”

  “Well, I grew up in a village in the kingdoms, but not in the capitol city proper.” Endrance explained. “The place was called Wayrest. It’s a farming village a few weeks south of Ironsoul. I lived there with my father and it is also where my master Kaelob has retired.”

  “Yes. Kaelob.” Joven muttered. “So, what of your mother?”

  Endrance shrugged one shoulder. “She died giving birth to me. That’s what I’ve been told. I don’t know anything about her though, we had lived somewhere else when I was born and only moved to Wayrest when she died.”

  Joven was silent a moment. He didn’t know what to say to the young man yet. In that situation in his culture, the child might be considered weak like their mother, unless he was to be of impressive size. But he had learned that people view strength differently here. “Are you going to miss it? Your family and your life here, that is?” Joven asked as he scratched his nose with a hand. “I mean they say you village people live real simple lives and stuff. Things are much rougher where I come from.”

  Endrance nodded and without turning said, “Yes, in a way I will miss my father dearly. He worked so hard to raise me, and I love him very much. But on the other side I need this change for me to grow, for me to learn more.” He chuckled, “I had read every book in Kaelob's library; except for the tomes of spells he prevented me from accessing.” Endrance shrugged. “Just as well, some things you have to learn on your own right?”

  The two of them rode in silence for quite some time, and as they journeyed the suns crossed the sky. By the time the suns had come three-quarters its journey across the horizon, Joven looked about and pulled the horses to a stop. He grinned at Endrance as he helped the young wizard slide off his horse..

  “Well, we better get started setting up camp, especially since I'm pretty sure you don't know anything about camping or living off the wild,” he said, guiding both his and Endrance’s horses to a nearby copse of trees. Once the two horses were tethered to a tree, the two of them quickly found a site to camp at.

  Endrance was surprised to see the spot Joven picked had already been cleared of debris, and there was even the remains of a fire having been in the center. The burnt cinders were scattered about, but there was a large scorched indentation in the center of the site. Looking about, Endrance could see that there was also several even and flattened out spots where one could lay out their bedroll and not have large lumps underneath them.

  Joven dropped his pack off near the fire pit and looked around.
“This place looks just fine,” he said, nodding his head. “I camped here two nights ago as I was on my way to you.” He frowned as he studied the ground for a moment. “But it seems something was here last night. Stay here,” he said. He drew his greatsword and slid into the trees almost silently.

  Endrance looked back around the camp again, remembering the tricks Ethan had taught him on the road before. He took a closer look in the long light of the setting suns and finally noticed something that had been immediately evident to Joven. A trio of long grooves marred the packed dirt surface of one of the spots people could set their tents up on.

  It was quiet for several minutes while Endrance looked around the camp. He couldn’t sense anything hostile, nor could he see anything lurking in the dusk-enhanced shadows of the woods. He could see much better in the dark than most men and probably as good as the elves, but whatever it was that concerned Joven was not lurking near here.

  It occurred to Endrance that he couldn’t see the barbarian either, and he began to get worried when suddenly a large shape loomed up in his peripheral vision. The dim light of the fading suns barely illuminated Joven’s face as he stalked back into the camp, wiping his sword with a dirty cloth. Endrance sighed and walked up to the barbarian as he sheathed the greatsword.

  “What was that?” Endrance asked.

  He grunted, shrugging, “It was nothing important. It was just an unwelcome visitor. I convinced it to leave.”

  Joven turned to Endrance, his expression severe. “Okay. We need to set up camp. I’ll teach you, but you need to pay attention because we’re running out of light. First thing you need to get is firewood. Go into the woods here and collect about two armfuls of dried wood,” He mimicked snapping a twig with his hands. “The drier the wood, the better it will be. I’ll set up camp and prepare the meal once you get back.” He shooed Endrance into the woods, “Hurry up! The suns are dropping swiftly!”

  Endrance ran into the woods, casting his eyes about for loose sticks and branches. Quickly he gathered up as much as he could fit in his arms, stopping when he could no longer pick up anything without dropping some wood. He ran back and dumped the wood by the fire pit and looked at Joven. The big barbarian was placing several stones in a ring around the fire pit, building up a small wall around the pit. He had already rolled out the bedrolls and had a small pot sitting nearby. Endrance turned and headed back into the woods, and began searching for more wood to burn. He had grabbed most of the fallen dry wood that he could see, but he was certain he could get more by heading deeper into the woods.

  The night was imminent, and in the closeness of the trees, it was as dark as it ever got to Endrance. He felt nervous out in the dark by himself. What if the thing Joven scared off came back? He carefully moved through the woods, picking up sturdy branches and sticks as he went. He had just picked up his last possible branch of wood when he came across something horrible.

  In a small clearing of the woods were the makings of a horrible battle. The trees were slashed by something sharp and large, there was blood sprayed against the trunks of the trees and across the grass. Endrance could hardly tell the blood was there by sight, but he could smell it, and it sickened him. He saw a form slumped in the middle of the clearing, its spined form easily as big as a horse. He turned and quickly ran as fast as he dared back through the darkened trees. He emerged from the woods a few dozen paces from their camp, and he quickly deposited the wood near the fire that was slowly growing in the pit.

  He sat down near his bed roll as Joven added some of the wood he had brought into the fire. He then put some things into the pot and set it in the fire by a hooked iron stick. He sat back and looked over at Endrance. “I’m making some stew from some supplies that I brought, but I don’t have enough to last past tonight. We will have to hunt something tomorrow night.”

  Endrance nodded, looking into the flames. He was still disturbed from running into the bloody mess in the woods, but he said nothing. He lay down on his bedroll and stared up at the darkening night sky. Slowly the last sliver of the suns disappeared beyond the horizon, and the stars were visible, twinkling gently as the night spun on.

  “So,” Joven began, having picked up a stick and whittled at it with a small knife, “Tell me about what you do. It’s good for my renown to be escorting the Spengur, and I want to know more about the man I’m going to be guarding for the rest of his time with us.”

  “Have you guarded a Spengur before?”

  “No, I haven’t. The last one was watched by a different family.”

  Endrance turned his head so he could get a sideways glance at Joven. “Then aren’t they supposed to be watching me? I was told that your people guarded the Spengur in every generation.”

  Joven shrugged. “The last Spengur was… he died. When a bodyguard fails his duty, his family line is cut from those who are able to watch over the Spengur. Now only the house of Rothel is left.”

  “Rothel?” Endrance asked, his interest peaked. “That’s your family name? Joven of Rothel?”

  Joven grunted, watching the pot of stew intently. “There used to be twelve families who would take turns watching over the Spengur as they came and went, but now the onus lies solely on me and my brothers.”

  Endrance remembered something he had read in Kaelob’s book, and drew it from his pack. He flipped through it and saw the chapter Kaelob had written about the barbarian families. At his time there were four families left. How many years had passed since then?

  “I see. Well, that means your family was the best then, right?” Endrance asked. “Your family never failed in its duties.”

  “True.” Joven said, adding a dry stick to the fire. “Though with your current record for getting into danger I’ll be lucky if you survive until we get to Balator.”

  Endrance glanced down at his book, paging through to the notes on Kaelob’s reception. “So what exactly is going to happen once I’m there?” he asked, trying to find the information. His bodyguard shrugged his shoulders, grinning. “We have a feast celebrating your arrival, and then we make sacrifices to you so you help us faithfully.” He said matter-of-factly. “Then you go to your new home, and in the morning begin your duties as Spengur.”

  Endrance looked up from his pages. “Sacrifice?”

  “Yep.”

  Endrance continued to stare at the big man, who only smiled into the firelight. “What kind of sacrifice?”

  Joven shrugged. “You know, the usual things people sacrifice. Money, animals, people.” He seemed to be honest, but without any sense of malice.

  Endrance shook his head and frantically began paging through his book to find Kaelob’s notes. “Whoa wait a second!” he exclaimed, nearly tearing pages as he searched. “I don’t want any human sacrifices! Why would you kill people for me?”

  Joven looked at Endrance, confused. “Who said we were going to kill them?” he visibly went over the conversation in his head, keeping track with his hands. He eventually nodded, confirmed that he was right. “We were giving things of ours to you, without expecting them back or demanding payment.” He looked back at his charge. “Doesn’t that mean sacrifice?”

  Endrance found a page that started explaining the feast and its sacrifices. From what he could see, the barbarian people gave up a wealth of things in hope they could get allegiance from the person they wanted to be the Spengur. They would give them a home, food, treasures, animals, and even servants. Particularly it mentioned that some of the Ergkinoa being the biggest sacrifice, as they were the ones who passed on tribal lore, knowledge, and history by word of mouth, since the barbarian people only rarely knew how to read.

  “Oh. I see.” Endrance said, closing the book. “I misunsderstood what you meant. I think my master had said something about that as well, I’m sorry.”

  Joven shrugged. “Sure. Stew’s ready.”

  They ate in silence, and Endrance thought more about what was going to come. It was quiet while they ate, and Joven seemed to be thinking. “Y
ou know,” the barbarian started, “It would be advantageous if I taught you some weapon skills either way.”

  Endrance sighed. “Look, I don’t want to hurt anybody. I don’t need to know how to use a sword.” He denied, trying his best to exert himself.

  Joven shrugged. “You may not want to hurt others, but that’s not to say someone out there wants to hurt you. You’ve lived a very sheltered life up until now. I have more scars from people that I didn’t want to fight than you have years in your life.” The barbarian gestured at the area around him with his spoon. “The world is dangerous, and you may not be able to use your magic all the time.” He finished. When they were done eating and Joven took care of the wooden bowls, the barbarian taught the young mage how to set up and break down a camp so that it would be safe to use another time and to prevent accidents from happening. By the time he was done, it was late in the night.

  Endrance put his things away and laid out on his bedroll to sleep. What Joven had told him at dinner weighed heavy on his mind. “You may be right, but I still can’t envision myself using a weapon. Not yet.” He said, rolling his back to the man and trying to get some sleep.

  He was just drifting off when he thought he heard his bodyguard whisper “I hope you never have to…”

  The next day Endrance was most certainly sore, but they could not rest for very long. They travelled along the roads heading north all day at a decent clip, pausing only to rest and water the horses. They ate their lunch in the saddle, hard bread that was dry and crumbling, but dense enough to be filling. The ride was rough enough and the ache in his muscles were more than enough to prevent him from doing much else but focusing on riding the whole day. Maybe in time he would be able to ride for days without worry, but at the current time he was too green to do anything more than try to stay in the saddle.

  They were still a long ways to Balator, but they agreed to make a stop in the city of Fini along the way for more supplies and to get a rest. It was still several days away so they slightly increased the pace of their horses. They made good time, and they covered several miles before they stopped along yet another wood to camp. This time they made camp well out of the woods, and Joven took Endrance along to show him how to hunt.