Caged Warrior (The Warrior and the Wizard Book 1)

by Désirée Nordlund

  “Why is this important?” he asked Jadoog.

  “When doing magic, you perturb the order of nature” the wizard explained. “If you can’t keep the focus on what you’re doing, you risk leaving marks of your actions, and they can be prominent marks.” It did not appear like Jadoog minded questions. His grandmother had always answered him when he asked things, but sometimes he had felt she thought of him as difficult or stupid. He considered the newcomer Osapi who wanted Avia as his master. Part of him was jealous because the new boy was taking his position. A position he had lost on his own, he knew that, but never the less he was not keen on the idea of her getting a new student in his place. Another part of him could not comprehend how anyone would want Avia as master. She had been demanding, harsh and, which he would never forget, did beat you if you made a mistake.

  Jadoog handed him leafs from a plant.

  “What do you make out of this?” he asked. Putt turned the leafs over in his hands. He did not know this one. He crushed one of them between his fingertips and smelled. They had a sharp, distinct scent and it was of the kind which made him avoid tasting it.

  “What use could you make of it?”

  “I don’t know” Putt answered truthfully.

  “If you would guess?”

  “I would not eat it” Putt considered. He saw in the corner of his eye that Jadoog nodded approvingly. He felt his mind racing in panic. What would he say that sounded cleaver? He knew nothing of medical herbs. With a sudden enlightenment, he understood his lack of knowledge was the point. It was what he associated with the plant that was vital, and he could only say what came to his mind. Putt blurted:

  “I would use this to make someone angry.”

  “How?”

  “Squeeze the juice out and put a drop in that person’s drink.”

  “And why would you want someone angry?” Yes, why indeed? He had never met one he had liked when they were furious.

  “I don’t know.” He frowned. “Maybe to get something done. Dad chopped a lot of wood when he was angry. And our neighbor always threw pebbles on his ox to get it moving.” Jadoog laughed.

  “Have you any idea what magic is?” he asked the boy. Putt considered.

  “I saw you create a ball of light the other day.”

  “You wanted to be a wizard before you saw that.” True, he had. Or was it his grandmother’s wish. What did he want? He had wanted to become a warrior, but their world was upside down.

  “It’s granny who wants me to become a wizard” Putt muttered.

  “Are you sure it’s only her?” The wizard’s voice sounded smug. Putt felt his cheek getting hot remembering the vibrant woman creating a nude girl for him out of pink smoke. Jadoog grinned. “I thought not.”

  “Can you read my mind?” Putt asked, embarrassed.

  “Not in the way you think” Jadoog answered. “I can feel what you radiate, and that’s more than most people think they do. But I can’t know what you think, exactly. You’ll learn.” Putt’s heart took a double beat.

  “Will you teach me?” he breathed.

  “Yes. If you want me to.” Putt’s face burst into a sunshine and he hugged his new master.

  That night, the two masters sat by the fire with their new apprentices. Four people with new obligations and challenges they had not had in the morning the very same day. Putt felt less jealous of Osapi than he thought he would. Probably because he had his own master now. His grandmother had been less pleased about the arrangement than he had expected. She had not been willing to let him leave with Jadoog. At least not yet. It was an odd way to show love, Putt thought. He had felt he had been a burden since she rescued him, yet now when she had the chance to get rid of him, she opposed it. It was not a matter of money because Jadoog refused to hear of it. Wizards did not get paid to be masters he had explained and reminded her that neither did warrior masters.

  After some argument back and forth the agreement was they all four traveled together until Avia felt Jadoog was to be trusted with Putt, and Putt himself would have a chance to feel safe with Jadoog. The wizard had asked why they had to move and simply not just built a hut on the spot and waited for Avia’s verdict. Avia on her part had appeared restless with the very idea and countered she was a warrior and needed missions to get her daily bread. And now she had an apprentice too and could not be sitting on her butt doing nothing.

  Putt knew by now and figured Jadoog understood it too, that Avia needed to be on the move. Her craving for open space was as intense as his own need for a planned and structured life. When Jadoog had told him what the following years would contain he had felt at ease. He had also grasped what he had missed most since he lost his home and his parents - sense and purpose. Jadoog had a plan for his training and knew how long each part would likely take. It was a plan made by other wizards before him. It was stable and safe. He could see the future in rough shapes the upcoming years instead of hours. What did it matter if he had to be on the move with Avia for some time yet before they could settle down somewhere for a more extended period? He had the structure he needed know. The tumbling down the hill had stopped, and he had landed smoothly.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  A family

  The next morning they continued their journey. The chosen path was Avia’s, but everyone agreed to follow her. Jadoog did not mind, but he was stunned by her need to be on the move. He sensed it was not so much that she opposed staying more than one night at one place, as a thirst to see and learn new things. A mind who would never settle with studies through reading, which was practiced in some areas, but one who needed to see and sense for her own, to make her own choices. This was a woman who would never get old. It was a craving he admired and respected, but in Avia’s case it had developed beyond what was practical, he thought. He too sought to learn more, but his needs demanded more time. He was not as quickly bored as Avia. He could long for a day in a chamber full of written knowledge. Most people he had met at Avia’s age had given up learning something new and just waited for death. It could be a happy waiting, he knew that. Many old people looked back on their lives and were pleased, but they stopped their journey long before they died. Avia, he thought, would never stop.

  Putt had told him his great-grandmother had had some magic powers and that was why Avia had suggested the path of a wizard for him. There were many people out there claiming to be wizards, and sorcerers, and fortunetellers without having any skills for the magic itself. Several of them could mix a potion or two that worked but then it was a matter of blending the right ingredients. Not real magic. Not much difference from brewing beer or baking bread. It was nothing wrong with making these potions, except for the epithet “magical” their creators tended to add to the description. The real magic was something else. It came from the mind. No matter what most people believed, it was not an ability that was inherited. If you had the ability to concentrate and keep focus for a long time, you could probably learn the art of magic as well. Few did, however, and many otherwise capable wizards kept the knowledge within the family if one or two of the children turned out to be promising.

  Jadoog did not have a wife and no children that he knew of. He considered himself skilled and saw no problem to take on this orphan boy. Not every wizard would agree with him. Even fewer would approve that he said in plain words that the school did not exist. It was a myth built on purpose over the years by the wizards’ elite, a loose group of elderly wizards who could just as much be a myth themselves if not for the fact that every real wizard had met them at least once; the time you got your brand on the arm. That was how a wizard could tell a false wizard from a real without the other doing spectacular magic, which some cases were more spectacular than magic. Wizards kept a low profile and did not ask for show-offs. They asked about the school. If the reply included the elders and the scar of the burn mark, it was a wizard approved by the guild.

  Most rulers and other men and women of power had the sense or the knowledge to hire a real wizard
, but there were a few who had nothing more than a skillful brewer with a few dazzling tricks up the sleeve. It did not make Jadoog angry that they were lucky imitating his craft. Instead, it made him frustrated because he began to ask himself if his skills were needed at all if so few could tell the difference. As he had told Putt, using magic was a sort of disturbance of the balance of nature. He could read someone’s radiation of thoughts, create light, stun an enemy and a lot of other things, but everything he did had to be settled back. The longer he let the light burn, the more things he had to return to their original place. It was like a movement of energy rather than physical substance. It happened from time to time that someone learned to do magic on their own, or got poorly schooled, and left their remains of their craft unsettled. It became places of unease for regular people, and strange things could happen there. When heard of, a wizard would go there to settle things, but it could take a decade or two before the rumors reached any of them. It was not like a beacon even to them. It was interesting that most things ordinary people knew about magic came from those who did not know how to use it, or did not have any powers of that kind at all.

  Avia felt she was surprisingly at ease with her new apprentice. She had thought of herself as too old for being a teacher once again. If it had not been for Putt becoming her orphaned grandson, she would not have even considered it no matter the talent. Osapi was different. He was not a newbie. It was also her first male apprentice apart from Putt’s short story. She had not thought much about her apprentices’ sex. They were children when they came to her and watching them grow up did not change her parental feelings for them. To her vast embarrassment, she felt attracted to Osapi. Physically tempted in a way she had not been to anyone in over a decade. It was ridiculous, she knew that. She was way too old for him. And even if she had not been, master and apprentice should not have that kind of relationship. A master must be able to teach and discipline with so much objectivity there was to be found in a human. The idea that she could restrain her husband, or the other way around, was absurd. That kind of relationship did best with equality. No husband nor wife should dominate the other and act as a master or a parent. It was an entirely different relationship when you had an intimate situation like marriage. Avia was positive she in every way could keep that type of relation away from her and Osapi. It was not that difficult, but the flow of emotions had surprised her.

  Besides, Osapi was far too bright to feel attracted to her. Young people had the gift of being handsome and charming. Old people did not. It made sense and was quite logical. If young people fell in love with the older generation, there would be no children. After all, in the long run, children were needed for the survival of humans. She could keep her distance, both physical and mentally. Master and apprentice only.

  The uncomfortable attraction aside, Osapi did not make her feel caged as Putt did. It was not their fault or praise of course. Putt never asked to follow her, nor have his family and home ruined. Though facts remained that she hated to take on any responsibility she had not chosen for herself. The young man who had come to her would leave if she told him to and her right to tell him to go was undisputed. Putt, her dear grandson, had, on the other hand, every right to be with her. She knew that and accepted this. Nevertheless, it made her feel trapped. That she felt sad and guilt-stricken about it did not change this.

  Every evening when they had made camp Avia trained Osapi and Jadoog took a walk with Putt. Wizards had apparently a need to do their teaching alone. She was not surprised. She thought about her mother. When they ate dinner one night, she brought up the subject.

  “My mother told me she had got her training in the Wizard’s school.” Jadoog met her eyes across the fire.

  “Then I’m afraid your mother didn’t get a real wizard’s training.” He gave her an apologetic shrug. “It’s a long story and secrets of my guild. There is no such place.”

  “So you’re saying that she lied to me?”

  “All I’m saying is that there is no Wizard’s school. I’m not saying anything about her skills and her doings.”

  “She did more than powders and potions” Avia remembered. “I’ve always thought of her doings as magic.”

  “What did she do then? Fortunetelling?”

  “Yes, but also…” She hesitated, not used to put words to her mother’s skills. “She did things with her hands, like shaping imaginary things.” She studied Jadoog’s face. It was severe in a way that gave her a chill.

  “Before we part ways one day, you should tell me where she lived,” he said. “That place has probably work waiting for me.”

  “Because she was unskilled?”

  “No. Because she was untrained. Magic has to be reset. She was never told how.” Avia considered. It sounded reasonable. She had always believed her mother exceptionally talented and skilled. Maybe all daughters did? If Jadoog knew his things, her mother had not. It did not diminish her. Education did not reach everyone who needed it. The world was full of talents that could have made a difference to the world if properly guided.

  “Maybe we should go there together” Avia suggested. She turned her attention to the dinner over the fire. She could not believe she just asked someone for company anywhere. She caught Jadoog smiling, and she sent him an angry look.

  “I’m not making fun of you” Jadoog explained. “It’s just I’m not much for company either, and still I don’t mind you at all as company. Strange how things fit sometimes.” Yes, it was. They were like the oddest of families. One without any ties of blood or sex too. She thought of what he had said about her mother and him visiting where she lived. She wondered about that. Had her mother done something wrong? Had she not known what she was doing at all? It was not a comforting thought. At least Jadoog had not jumped to his feet in terror and demanded to be taken there at once. Could not be that bad, could it? Her mother had been dead for many years now. It was a fascinating thought that her work could give unwanted effects such a long time later. There was so much she did not know about magic. Now she suspected she knew even less than she had thought she did. She wanted to know things. It was natural you did not know everything. No one could do that. But she wished she knew more than she did and worst of all was when something she thought she knew turned out to be far less accurate than she had believed it to be. Well, at least she did not hang on to outdated knowledge. If something turned out to be wrong, then so be it.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The village of Qaryat

  A few days later they reached a village up in the hills. Putt studied the narrow terraces where they had their farmlands. The terraces covered the steep slopes like wide staircases. And where they had no arable land they herded sheep and goats, which was far up on the hillsides. Putt made big eyes at their houses, built narrow and high. To save every inch of arable land, his grandmother had told him. The second and third floor had been built together too, so entering the village was like entering the yard of a big circle-shaped house. In the middle was an open square with the village’s well in the center. The houses gave the area a cool shadow, but the stench from the outhouses was prominent. They had seen cattle and their shepherds when they got there, but except them, they had not met any villager. Now they stood on the village square alone, though it was in the middle of the day when most people were on the move. Putt saw a child peeking at them from a window on the second floor.

  “Hello?” Osapi called, breaking the silence. He had not noted the child, and when he called out, Putt saw the young one disappear again. “Hello?” Osapi called again. “Where is everybody?” A woman stepped out from a door. Putt figured she could be as old as his grandmother, but stiffer and less mobile. She wore a long dress in bright colors and had her hair in a scarf with embroideries on. First, she glared at them and then her face changed as she scanned Avia and Osapi up and down.

  “You’re warriors?” she asked, eyes shining with hope. Avia answered with a nod.

  “I’m Avia, and this is my apprenti
ce Osapi.” His granny turned her head to Jadoog, as if she was not sure how to present him. He opened his mouth to say something but lingered. Putt eyed the woman who now seemed ecstatic.

  “They’re warriors!” she called into the house, and it was like a murmur spread through its walls. More people appeared. Excited and curious faces everywhere. They were invited inside by the woman, climbed upstairs to the second floor and into a large room they sat down on bright woven carpets on the floor. First, they were served tea, and to Putt’s amazement, a lump of fat floated in the cup. Jadoog served his tea without any additions. Then all kinds of dishes were carried into the room, most of them were based on vegetables but some of them on meat. They were spicy and the aroma rich. Putt did not understand the shift in mood. A village which had felt abandoned was now full of life, and they were offered a kingly dinner. He sat beside Jadoog.

  “Why did you not present yourself, master,” he asked in a low voice. “Maybe they’ll think you’re a warrior too.” Jadoog chewed and swallowed.

  “Maybe” he acknowledged “but I can’t help their presumptions, and I didn’t tell any lies. Besides, where are my weapons? Look at your granny and look at me.” Putt did. Avia’s clothes were based on leather, and so was Osapi’s. Jadoog’s dress was made of soft wool. Even without their weapons Avia and Osapi appeared to be different from him and his master. Putt realized he was still dressed in the clothes he had when he left home, apart from the leather additions to his pants which Avia got him.

  “We can get you more wizard-like clothes, if you like” Jadoog whispered beside him. Putt felt his cheeks get hot. He nodded as a reply. It was unpleasant not to have your thoughts private. No doubt did that emotion radiate from him too. He would soon go insane thinking like that. His master talked to one of the villagers serving. He could hear him chose his words with care, ease her nervousness. No doubt based on what he sensed from her. It was not a bad thing, was it? Yes, it could be used to gain power too. And no one said a warrior served only good and noble purposes either. He longed for a place where he could find stories from many places, so he could make up his own mind about what was right and what was wrong. He got an image of immense halls and corridors filled with books and scrolls. An unknown place. A vision he could not have in his mind!