Mages at Large (Wine of the Gods Book 18)

by Pam Uphoff

  Max crossed his arms and looked at his father. "You are a criminal. A sociopath and a would-be murderer. These are the leaders of the local mage community. Will you join them and live lawfully?"

  "Have they accepted your witch? You might as well be a eunuch, as far as passing on your mage talents. My Mage gene."

  Max scowled. "And thank the Old Gods, I never will. My daughter is beautiful, and you will never see her."

  "Don't bet on it. I have a use for a properly raised granddaughter. But you? You are no longer my son, and you will not leave here alive." Marcus jerked out a knife and nicked his wrist.

  Oh . . . not good. I've heard about Mage duels.

  Falco counted. "They're all here. Both compasses." Should we run for it?

  "Certainly not." Havi took the North position, and pulled out a small knife. "Must use the old rituals for a proper duel, you know."

  Falco dropped off of Wink and moved to the southeast position. He knew he was the weak link in their unpracticed compass. He took the knife from Ras, pricked his wrist and passed the knife to Cor. He matched the joining chant carefully and felt the power rising, from the air around them and the bright sun overhead. For a moment he felt like he could feel the heat of the Rip a hundred miles away, then he settled into the circle and kept the power flowing around and around, building higher.

  The air cooled as three compasses pulled the heat from the air.

  They were south of the other two compasses, so it was through Ras's eyes that they studied the other sixteen men.

  The wind started gusting and clouds formed and thickened.

  Right. Everyone's all formed up, let the duel begin.

  Marcus's compass was rock steady and practiced, the other was unpracticed, with a lot of leader types trying to dominate the flow.

  Marcus has his usual compass. Paul is in a new compass, and not fitting well.

  A detached part of his own mind looked at his own Compass saw six of them in mutual respect, Cor and Havi working together with complete trust, brilliant Orion eager to help, Korbin deep and solid, Ras like a bonfire, and Kevi . . . what was he doing?

  :: He has the witch gene.:: He couldn't tell if that was Havi or Cor. :: He is feeding us power from Earth. Three power sources for us, and they're . . . old fashioned. :: There was a gleeful edge to the mental voice. And the totality that was their compass reached out and touched the uneven compass. Falco jumped as lightning flashed from the sky, but didn't break his grip. The bolt was deflected, hit the tallest roof. Now, through the compass, Falco could see the lightning as a series of strikes, electricity flowing down, reversing to the clouds, and back down again, and again. Following the ionized path formed by the earlier electron flows. It jumped as they tried to guide it, then twisted away. Struck the ground near Paul.

  The weaker of the two compasses was broken, the mages flung away. One mage lay unmoving, a few others picked themselves up slowly. A old man with silver in his golden hair pulled a knife and rushed them. A whip of wind spun him and dumped him, and he retreated hastily. Naughty! This is a magic duel, don't turn it into a pitched battle, because these guys drill regularly with swords. And hunt with magic.

  The other compass was smooth and seamless, a flawless circle. Falco felt his fellows admire it as they watched it spinning up a small tornado and sending it towards them. Their compass reached out and pulled power from the moving air, sucking all the speed from the funnel.

  A bolt of lightning crackled and danced over their heads before jumping to a tall roof and then down to Marcus's compass that sent it back. They batted it about, neither compass harmed, until the cloud had exhausted its charge.

  Rain pattered down and started freezing, stinging sleet sloughing down from the sky. Wind gusts blew it from compass to compass and another flick of lightning struck at Falco's compass. Then hail, fist sized chunks of ice. Bouncing from shields, then whipping in from the side as a tornado spun up and danced around Marcus's compass. The hailstones slowed as they approached but they were getting through. The compass snapped as two men collapsed, and suddenly the mages were fleeing.

  :: That one.:: Havi or Cor said, focusing on Marcus grabbing Paul and bolting past them and through the corridor. But their linked minds could not loosen enough, quickly enough, to move their individual bodies. Some of the women headed that way. At least two went through. Then their compass unraveled and they drew swords to block the rest of the mages. They were disappearing fast, some running into the houses, others warping light, a few found horses and rode off over the desert.

  Havi laughed. "I told you three you needed better horses."

  Orion scowled. "Well, I didn't think about the horse being stolen." His expression turned to worry. "Where are Val and Drei? They should have been here."

  "Cor, you want to follow the archmage? Max, go with him. Orion, search for any sign of the twins. Kevi, Falco—if any of those fellows on the ground have a pulse, tie them and gag them. I'll mind the corridor, keep any of them from using it." Havi frowned at the timid women cringing away from their fallen husbands. "Now, what to do with you lot."

  Falco checked. All three downed mages were still alive. Tying their hands behind their backs and gagging them would stop any chanting or gestures, making magic more difficult for them. Better than nothing. Kevi chattered on about how part of Nil's training had involved tying them up and making them learn how to cast spells from such awkward positions. "He's the Archwizard. Stronger than Ras, and paranoid as hell."

  Hopefully this lot hadn't had such a paranoid teacher.

  Falco caught a whoop from Orion and trotted around the house. He was pulling Val and Drei from the shed in the back.

  They looked blankly at him. Eyes dull and incurious. Chains around their necks. Orion flinched back as his hand brushed one.

  Chain spells. I thought they were just a story to scare kids. They even look like chains.

  "We need to get them to Nil, right now." Orion grabbed his brothers and shook them. "C'mon, fight it, you know how."

  Their teams were in the shed, Kevi took a quick look and spotted the twins' wagons behind it. They harnessed the horses and hitched them up, but the twins wouldn't let 'strangers' drive their horses. Havi seconded their desire to get them to Nil, and heaved the three unconscious mages into the first wagon. "Nil may be able to get a key out of one of them." He whistled, loud and long. His Splash trotted out from behind a house, with other horses following.

  Wink trotted up, looking a bit abashed. Stop thinking he thinks like a person! He's just getting over that alarming weather that whipped up out of nowhere.

  Havi mounted up. "I'm going to go get Richie. Probably meet you in Ash." He galloped through the corridor.

  "Richie?" Surely they didn't mean the God of Eternal Youth?

  "Yeah. Our Dad." Orion looked worriedly at Val. "He's going to be upset."

  Kevi caught his horse. "I'll see if I can track Cor and Max."

  Ras looked out across the desolation. "Damned horse."

  Falco patted Wink's nose. "I just borrowed him, if you need him . . . "

  "Thanks. I'll have a go at tracking the mages that ran off, and try to figure out what to do with the wives and kids that are here." He looked at the twins. "Ride with them. Orion and Korbin may have their hands full."

  Falco climbed into the back of Val's wagon.

  Orion had to coerce the twins into driving through a series of corridors to Karista, then across town to a ruined temple.

  The home of the God of Virtue. Or, the ruins of it.

  "Right, there's a private corridor to Ash right there." Orion flicked a spark of power at the solid marble wall.

  "What's Ash?" Val blinked dizzily at Orion.

  "A nice place, you'll love it. Turn here, and drive straight at that wall." Orion had to grab the reins and fight to get him to do it.

  The two men who met them as soon as they drove out of the barn had that deep unmistakable presence he'd felt around Art, Mercy, and Harry. And fro
m descriptions and pictures, he knew who they were. Richie and the Old Wolf

  I'm not used to Gods all over the place. And . . . The God of War? Has it come down to a War between Magicians?

  Richie was spitting mad and frantic with worry, scratching around at the chain spells.

  "They're well and solidly on." He fussed over his sons, who were protesting and treating him like a complete stranger.

  "Get off me, you fag." Val shrugged Richie's worried hand away. They got back in the wagons and headed down the main street, heading south.

  "Where are we going? Wait, I know this place . . . I think." Val was talkative.

  Drei was nearly mute. Frowning and introspective.

  Falco pondered, among other things, where to find the rest of the ancient mages. In case these three fellows couldn't be persuaded to give up the key to the chain spells.

  A quick walk and trot south of the village and they turned into the courtyard of an ugly stumpy tower.

  Through a corridor . . . no a fiery tornado of flashing colors . . . onto a sandy road that curved around a couple of low hummocks to a pair of two story marble buildings with fancy carved columns. A tall thin man stepped out of the first building and watched them pull up beside it before he stalked down the broad steps.

  "That's Nil, the archwizard." Orion's voice was low.

  "Gods on the doorstep, must be seri . . . " the man broke off suddenly, looking from Val to Drei. "Chains."

  Falco's skin crawled at the expression in Nil's brown eyes. The wizard studied the puzzled young men who weren't even recognizing their own father, nor remembering what they'd been told five minutes earlier and there was no pity in his face as he pulled the oldest mage from the wagon.

  He made a slight gesture and the mage's head jerked up, eyes blinking.

  "Give me the key to the chain spell." The old wizard's voice was quiet. He stared into the man's eyes. The man paled. "That's right. You want to live, don't you? And I will let you live if you give us the key."

  "If I remember correctly, he is East to the Archmage's North." The Old Wolf's voice was a bare breath above inaudible.

  "You are East to the Archmage's North. Repeat the chant. Louder. Let me hear it."

  The mage's lips moved barely above a whisper, a rhythmic chant.

  Nil nodded in sudden satisfaction, and let go of the mage.

  "Drei. Listen to me. The chain's not gold, it cannot hold. Give away your power and find true happiness. This chain's not fair, it is a snare. Give away your power and find true happiness." The chain crumpled suddenly, and Nil reached out and pulled something like an insubstantial loop off the young man's forehead.

  Drei swayed, turned green. "What was that? Dad? Dad, where are we? Wait, how did we get here? Nil? Val? Val are you all right?"

  Richie swept him up in a hug. "Prairie Coast. Let Nil work on Val for a bit. You ran afoul of some very bad mages. They put a chain spell and some sort of memory loop on the pair of you."

  After a repeat performance, slightly enlivened by Val attempting to hit Nil and calling him a pervert, Val was freed as well.

  They both stared at the mage. "Never seen him before." Drei said. "We went with Mr. Olson and his son Paul. The others weren't with them, his other son Max, and Falco and Dobs."

  "They wanted to look for some of their stuff they thought the bandits that took their wagon might have dumped." Val hesitated. "But that wasn't the reason, was it? There was . . . something?

  The Old Wolf scratched his chin. "Max, Dobs, and Falco. I'd like to talk to them."

  Falco swallowed and lifted a hand. "I'm Falco. Max is helping Cor track Marcus. Dobs is still at the Rip, with the baby."

  "Hey, they wouldn't do anything!" Drei protested.

  Orion cleared his throat. "Falco and Max helped us find you."

  "Heck, I wouldn't have thought their old man would either. They'd had a fight, and were split up. I mean, the kids were gone. Paul and Mr. Olson, that whole trip . . . " Val frowned.

  "Or at least the parts I remember." Drei shifted uneasily, looking around. "There were a whole lot more people on the trip back . . . Mages, and their families. It was before the equinox. Fall equinox. This looks like spring. How long?"

  "Over six months. The spring equinox was three days ago." Orion told them.

  Drei looked horrified. "Dad, did you tell Mom we're all right?"

  "Not yet."

  "We've got to get home, right away." Val turned and started climbing into the wagon.

  Drei trotted to the second wagon, then looked back. "Thank you Nil. Is there anything I may do for you?"

  Val flushed and nodded.

  Nil scratched his chin. "First, don't change, second, get back here more often and take some defense classes so it doesn't happen again. Third, to feel completely free, you need to help find those mages and stop them from doing something like this ever again. Now go see your Mother. Talk to Havi later about where to find mages." He grabbed the two other mages and dragged them out of the wagons, letting them fall to the ground.

  Richie nodded his approval, and grabbed the back of a wagon and threw himself in.

  After they had driven off, Nil turned to study the mages, still half stunned on the ground. He made a thoughtful gesture and wrapped a spell web around the first man. He flopped grotesquely and his hands shrunk down as his fingernails enlarged and black hair sprouted. The skin of his forehead split, two horns erupted, grew fat and curled like a sheep's.

  Falco gulped and backed up.

  Nil waved at the other two mages. He could barely see the webs that snapped like a mousetrap around their bodies; they started changing immediately.

  "Whenever anyone wants them, they'll be here." Nil said, and walked away, leaving the mages to struggle with the clothing they were trapped in.

  The Old Wolf snorted. "I think you just did that as an antidote for acting like the wise old wizard." He held the . . . goats while Korbin removed their clothes. "Poor sods." Then he straightened and looked at Falco. "Where did you all come from?"

  "Art's Museum. We . . . I . . . " Falco straightened his shoulders and tried to answer sensibly. "Us kids were bubbled and stuck in the basement, so the adults knew we were safe while they tried to move the comet. I'm . . . my Mom is a wizard, so I was able to scratch my way out of the bubble. I let my friend Max out, and Dobs . . . and then . . . the archmage. That was two years ago."

  "Marcus Olsen." The God of War sighed. "I barely remember that far back. In fact I generally try not to."

  "After we realized Marcus was . . . well, we left. We spent the winter in Rip Crossing. When we realized Val and Drei were in trouble, the first thing we thought of was Marcus. Anyway, Harry took us to the Museum. It looks like two full compasses were freed. Harry got my mom and dad out. They're at the Tavern."

  "Right. Let's go talk to them. Korbin?"

  "I'll check and see if Ras needs help, then see if Cor managed to track Mr. Marcus Olsen."

  Chapter Seventeen

  Spring 1395

  Southern Divide Territory

  Falco walked through Corridors to Southern Hell. No one had had any better idea than to see if any of the searchers had captured any more mages. And then sit back and hope the loose mages thought they'd just had a dominance battle with a local compass, no authorities involved. Marcus went through to here, and no doubt right through another. Probably to a town with multiple corridors. So how do I find him? He eyed the corridor to Havwee.

  A loud neigh behind him, he turned to see Cor's black horse, tied to a rail. He walked over and rubbed the horse's face while he peered through the windows at the restaurant. He spotted Max and Cor at a table and walked in to join them.

  "Nil got the chains and other stuff off the twins and Richie and Orion hauled them home. Korbin said he'd go to Black Rock and help Ras deal with the women and children. Kevi was going to try to find you guys."

  They both nodded.

  "He found us. Now he's winding around through corrido
rs, still hoping to somehow trip over them. We gave up." Max scowled. "We couldn't find Da . . . Marcus. Or Paul."

  Falco nodded. "But they think it was a mage battle. Nothing to do with the authorities. So they will check the house in Havwee, and the mining claims. If we don't do anything, if the authorities don't do anything . . . they'll decide they can just get back to work, and avoid Black Rock."

  Cor nodded. "Give them a couple of weeks. Then we can set up some surveillance, try to catch the Gold Gang. We've got Val and Drei back, so now we can cooperate with the army and stop some of these damned bandits."

  Max and Falco exchanged glances.

  And deal with the problem I created when I released Marcus.

  In Black Rock they found Kevi waiting with the missing horses. "Poor city mages didn't have a clue where they were. The horses just slowly circled around and they rode back into town. Korbin and Ras and I didn't have any trouble with them."

  Five horses. How many . . . "How many total did we capture? Nil has three." Goats.

  Kevi shrugged. "Havi bubbled a couple of them and all the wives and kids. Then the guys the horses brought back, and hauled them all off to Rip Crossing. No doubt the Army will want to speak to them. Eventually. There's some big to do down south keeping them so busy they even dragged Xen out of his healing sleep to help."

  Cor snickered. "Bet he's sleep walking."

  "I heard he was back at Harry's, and mostly sleeping." Kevi grinned. "The Farmer Girls were all cheered up to hear it."

  "Gah. That's not safe!"

  Falco and Max exchanged baffled glances.

  "Umm, could you explain any of that to us poor time travelers?" Max patted the other big black horse, and tightened the cinch.

  "Xen is one of these baby gods we've told you about. When the gods do that healing sleep-for-a-year . . . you know about that, right? But when they're sleeping, they wake up every three or four days for necessary functions, and eat and drink. But they're not really awake. They're dreaming, and women can seduce them without waking them, but . . . well, it's really not safe to have a god thinking it's all just a dream."