The Tracker: Book 1 of the King's Hand Series

by B. A. Monaghan

  “It is at the end of the hall on your left. Good luck to you and Shadow.” Roland could hear a chuckle coming from the man as he closed the door.

  There were two guards in the guild bank room. The room was built out of quarried stone and there was a very large iron door on both the door to enter the bank and one for the vault. Both guards jumped up and pulled swords when Shadow entered. Roland went through the usual explanation and showed the medallion. Then he was allowed to speak to the Banker.

  “I would like to make a deposit and I would like to see if the bank could auction something for me.”

  The man behind the counter went into a well-rehearsed response. “The bank is available for any guild member. The minimum deposit is 25 silver. The cost of every deposit is one silver. You can take out any amount you want from the guild bank from as little as one silver and up to the entire amount of deposit. If you would like the bank to auction an item for you, we will take 10% of the total amount of the purchase as a fee. Do you have any questions?”

  “I would like to deposit two gold. He handed over one gold piece and a handful of silvers. I would also like the bank to hold this Lava Stone for me and auction it off.” Roland plopped the Lava Stone on the counter.

  The took the banker completely by surprise. “Where did you get that stone? I’ve never seen one that big or beautiful.”

  “I got it off an orc in the mountains between Alondale Forest and the Great Grass Sea.”

  “Oh, my. I would suggest waiting to auction off this stone for at least a month. I will determine how many carats and the grade of the stone. We send out an advertisement to the mages guild and to the local paper. This will give people time to get here for the auction and allow others to consolidate some capitol. I also suggest letting us auction this off at the Merchants Bank. They have a bigger facility than we do to auction off items. I’m thinking there will be a lot of people there to make a bid or just to see the stone.”

  “That will be fine by me. I do have a few questions. Do you guarantee the safety of the stone, and can I remain anonymous as to who the owner is?”

  “Oh, yes we do. We have an insurance policy against theft. With something this valuable we will be taking greater precautions. I will make sure your name stays out of all correspondence. Now if you tell someone it is your stone, that is on you. We will keep our side quiet as to whose stone it is. Now I have a form for you to fill out and we will sign a contract for the auction of the stone.”

  Roland and Shadow spent the next hour waiting and signing documents. It turned out the stone was 25 carats in size and a grade A perfect. The banker was aghast at the quality. He expected great things from the auction.

  It was getting late so they ended up staying in the open room at the guild. They didn’t have private rooms in this guild hall. The food was more expensive also. They would try to find an inexpensive place to stay the next day. The plan was to stay in the capitol for a while. Roland wanted to train with the Animal Bond. He was hoping to find out if there were active spells with the animal bond. He wasn’t able to discover any on his own. He also was hopeful to get some more training in illusion magic.

  They got up at dawn got breakfast packed their gear and were off to find a place to stay for some time. They finally found a place near the west gate of the city. It was just one small room with a fire place to cook on. It was nice for the fact that Shadow would easily come and go through the gate. He was already tired of the city. To find this place took all day and they weren’t able to get to the Mages Guild. Things weren’t easy in the city. What Roland thought would take a few minutes took hours. He ended up paying for three months in advance for a better price.

  The next day they went straight to the Mages Guild. This guild hall was huge. It was built with white marble. The cost to build the place had to be astronomical. There were four large marble columns and a double door at the entrance. If intimidation was there goal, they did a good job of it. The entrance had a large number of chairs and a few people were already sitting and waiting. Roland and Shadow walked up to the counter with a well-dressed man behind it.

  “What can I do for you adventurer?”

  “I registered at the Mages Guild in Alondale and I was directed here to meet with someone who could help me with my magic.”

  “What type of magic do you have?”

  “I have an Animal Bond and Illusion.”

  “Oh my, that is a bit unusual. You will need to speak with Eli Shatris. Give me a minute, please have a seat over there and I will call you when he can meet with you.”

  They sat down and waited for half the morning. A minute in this place wasn’t a minute in Alondale Forest. The seats had filled up all except the seats close to Roland and Shadow. People would even stand to keep from getting close to Shadow. Finally, a gentleman called out from a door to the side of the room for Roland and asked that they should follow him.

  If it wasn’t for the navigation spell Roland would have gotten lost. They made 5 turns and walked quite a ways and went up two sets of stairs. The man stopped in front of a door with the name plate “Mage Shatris”. The man knocked on the door opened it up an introduced them. “Roland Forestson and Shadow here to see you master.” He stepped aside allowing them to walk in. As soon as they were in the door closed behind them.

  There was an elf sitting behind the desk. He had tall pointy ears. He had copper colored straight hair. It hung down past his shoulders. He wore a green robe. His features were sharp. A chin that came to a point, high cheek bones, a long slim nose and a mouth with thin short lips. His eyes were green and piercing. The eye brows were thin and straight. Roland would describe him as intimidating. Did the mages try to make everyone uneasy?

  “My name is Eli. You can call me master for now. I see you brought your bond mate. That is good. I sense magic. Because you look human and you have elf magic I assume you have an illusion cast on you. Would you please drop the illusion in my presence?”

  “Yes sir.” Roland dropped the illusion on both himself and Shadow.

  “A Half-Elven. So was it your mother who was an elf raped by a human or was it a you father the elf who rapped your human mother?”

  “No sir. Neither. My father married my mother. They are happily married and it is my mother who is the elf.”

  “Well, that is good to know. I thought I might be the only elf ever to marry a human for love. You see young man my daughter is a Half-Elven. We understand better than any about prejudices. Unfortunately, neither myself or my daughter has illusion magic to hide the truth. Has your mother always cast illusions on you?”

  “No sir. I grew up in Alondale Forest. We live beyond Halfway. They say that is halfway to nowhere. So I rarely saw anyone except my parents.”

  “When you and I meet I expect to see you as yourself. I have been assuming that your mother is the illusionist. You haven’t objected to my presumption.”

  “Yes sir. She taught me what I know. I’m only Experienced level 5. My newest spell I’m able to cast Invisible on myself. I don’t know any spell for Animal Bond.”

  “Is your mother a master? How old is she anyway?”

  “Well she never told me what rank she was and the age issue was strictly forbidden at home.”

  He started speaking in High Elfin and the switched to Low Elfin. “Most females weather human or elf forbid questions on age.” “Did she provide you with any instructions to take with you?”

  Roland answered in High Elfin and Low Elfin. “Mother taught me both high and low. She didn’t give me instructions but she did give me a note pad with about 120 folios in it.”

  “I’m glad she was diligent in her teaching the language to you. How many levels have you gained since she gave you the folios?”

  “I’ve gained two levels.”

  “Have you written anything in your folios?”

  “No sir. She instructed me to but I haven’t spent the time on it. I’ll try to do better.”

  “No, Roland I’m th
inking if you open that note pad up and look at the first folio or two you will find instructions on illusion. If she is a master illusionist elf her instructions will be able to be read by you at the proper level and anyone else who looks at it will see blank pages. You may have your illusion instruction taken care of. As for the Animal Bond, what do you know so far.”

  “Well master, we can know what the other is thinking. He thinks a bit different than I do. We know where each other is at all times. I can smell better and see better. Shadow believes he thinks differently than he did before we were bound to one another. We actually treat each other as a pack. I’m the alpha and he is the beta.”

  “Well you have done well. I will add a few points to what you have just said. You will share traits with each other. The smell, and sight you get from him. He gets more intelligence. You both get endurance and strength from one another. You will also heal quicker. Roland you will get active spells. The first is Heal Bond Mate. That will be followed by Cure Poison, Cure Disease, and Dispel Curse. You will both live longer than normal. Being a Half-Elven you will live a long time anyway but the bond will increase even that. Wolves don’t live so long. Your heart will be broken time and again as you will lose bond mates. I’m sorry to tell you this. You will keep the traits you receive from each bonding.”

  “Just know the first bonding is always mutual. It just happens. I’m sure neither of you were expecting the bond. Your next bonding with be a cast, Bind Animal. You can bond with any animal who is comparable to your level. I wouldn’t suggest binding an animal much lower than you are. I also wouldn’t try binding an animal who is much higher than you because they will just kill you instead of letting you bind them. You can bind magical creatures but again, they usually will kill you than be bound. I wouldn’t bind with an animal that lives in the ocean or seas. I’ve never heard of that going well.”

  “Soon you will be able to communicate with other animals not bound to you. It isn’t going to be as easy as with Shadow. For instance, trying to communicate with a mouse is tough. They are always thinking of food or mating. Thy don’t have long to live so they hurry as fast as they can to do those two things. If you have something to offer an animal, you want to communicate with, that helps. Questions?”

  “Uh, no sir. You’ve covered more than I thought would be covered. Will I have to come to you for training?”

  “No. Here, take this piece of paper. Those are the commands for the active spells and when you can cast them. I wouldn’t worry about anyone reading them because no one will be able to use the spells except elves. If an elf has the gift of Animal Bond, you are required to teach what I have just taught you. This magic is special. Few elves get this gift. I’m thinking because you interacted with so many animals growing up the magic chose you.”

  “I would like to talk to you about your illusion magic. I believe your mother is a master. If she can provide a book with 120 folios and no one else is able to read them, then she is a master. You should spend every moment you can get practicing the spells and expanding your experience with it. Let me give an example. I have seen people cast an illusion with them running one way and actually they are going to opposite. The most successful illusionist is the one who thinks of unique ways of using illusion. I would also remind you that illusion isn’t just site. If you can trick the mind then that will effect touch, smell and sound. Your mother has given you a great gift. Don’t waste the gift.”

  “Thank you sir. I appreciate the advice. I do have one other item I need to talk to you about. When I was heading this direction I was in a fight with some Harpies. On one harpy she was holding this piece of paper. I thought because you know High Elfin you might see it as important.”

  Roland handed over the piece of paper he took from the harpy. Eli took the paper and read what it said and he just looked at it for some time in contemplation.

  “You say a harpy had this piece of paper in her hand. What were you doing fighting harpies?”

  “Well they had stolen a mages staff and the mage guild posted a job to recover the staff. I was asked to go along and the only Harpy with a comb on her head who we believed was the leader had this in her hand along with the staff we were after. I could read it and I thought someone might need to know about this.”

  “You did well Roland. I will let the mages guild council know about this. The elves think the guilds in the human lands have too much power. Especially the mages guild. They are active in causing dissention amongst the mages. If you come across anything else like this, please get it to me as quickly as possible.”

  “Well I guess we are done for today. As for the yearly registration fee, I will forgo the fee every year but there is one catch. You will have to come to my house for dinner. There are so few Half-Elven in this world and my daughter would enjoy your company. I expect you to come to dinner in three days. We will begin at an hour before sunset. Please bring Shadow with you.

  As soon as he stepped out of the office he cast illusions on he and Shadow. Just for the fun of it he cast Heal on Shadow. Shadow looked at him and the idea of “Why” came to his head. “I just wanted to see if it worked. I assume you felt it since you really weren’t needing healed.” Shadow just gave a wolfish shrug.

  When he got back to their temporary home he brought up his Status Panel and Opened up Animal Bond Skill.

  Animal Bond

  Blessed with magic from the Elves you are able to bond an animal to your life. The two you will complement each other till death.

  Passive Abilities

  Share Attributes

  Increased Healing +.005/Second

  Increased Stamina +.05/Second

  Increased Strength +1/Per Level

  Active Abilities

  Cast Heal on Bonded Animal (50 mana)

  This was really helpful. It didn’t say what all the attributes were but he knew he could smell better and he could see better. The magic was a true blessing.

  He pulled out his mother’s notebook she had given him and he looked at the first portfolio thinking it would be blank. To his surprise it had something writing on it.

  Roland, if you’re reading this then you now know this isn’t just a notebook. This book will reveal the secrets to illusion to you as you are able to understand and cast the spells. I don’t want to influence you on how you learn. Having an imagination will help you more than learning from me. You might not agree right now but later on in life you will thank me. After you learn cast invisible on others start casting as soon as you recover your mana. I would suggest dropping to 25% of total. Try to always have some mana in reserve, even when practicing. Better safe than sorry. Keep working on your meditation. Love Mother.

  So that he could practice he walked outside and cast invisible on Shadow. He was able to get through the gates and beyond before he became visible again. Shadow seemed to like that magic. He went back inside and practiced casting illusions on self. When he got down to 135/540 he started working on his meditation.

  He was determined to hit illusion hard and spent an inordinate amount of time in meditation. Casting invisible on himself would drop his mana quickly. He was determined to raise his meditation and illusion as fast as possible.

  It was day two of his intense training with illusion and meditation when he just screamed. “AAAAAAHHHHHH. I can’t stand this anymore. I have got to get out of this house. Shadow was having a rabbit for lunch. Roland could feel the humor Shadow was feeling. He had been enjoying his excursion around the capitol. “I can’t keep this up. I’m Half-Elven. I have a long life and there is no reason for me to rush my leveling so much. Maybe others could sit around and do one thing over and over again to gain levels but he couldn’t do it. He wasn’t a masochist.

  So he got up put on his boots and headed to the guild hall. He would just have to build on his abilities while he went on quests. He needed to find a group heading out in a few days. H still had dinner to go to with Eli and his family. He could be available the day after tomorrow. Off
to the guild hall.

  He got to the guild hall and went straight for the mission board. Most of the level 2 mission were escort duty of caravans. He really didn’t want to do that because he was wanting to get experience more than coin. He had enough coin as it was and would soon have way more than he needed so experience was a priority. There were a few jobs that looked interesting but he would need to be in a group. He really didn’t know anyone he could group with. The group he had worked with in Waterville were still in Waterville. How could he develop some friendships? He wasn’t good at just going up and talking with anyone. His Charisma level was a testament to that.

  He walked back to the desk where the young lady was sitting. “Excuse me. I have a few questions if you could answer them for me.”

  “It depends on if I know the answer or not I guess.” The young lady was trim, shoulder length brunette hair, and wore leather pants and shirt that looked more appropriate for someone questing than sitting at a desk.

  “I was hoping to find a group to quest with. Is there any way I can put out a request to others who might want someone with my talents?”

  “What talents do you have?”

  “Well I’m a tracker and I work with a mountain wolf who is even a better tracker than I am. The two of us together can track everything but fish or birds. Unless the bird is flightless.”

  “Well everyone seems to need a tracker these days. Not too many in the guild who excel at tracking. I’ll keep an eye out for you and if you can check back here at least once a day I will keep an ear out for you. Just let me know when you find a job. I don’t want to keep trying to find you a job when you’re out with a job already. A girl likes to be kept in the loop.”

  “I appreciate your assistance. If you find me a good mission where I can gain some experience, I’ll pay you a silver.”