Master Wizard

by James Eggebeen

  If Sir Adane was in danger, then Chihon could go help him on her own. She would still be away from Amedon and Lorit. One place was as good as the next.

  "I'll go," Chihon told Lorit.

  "Chihon." Lorit paused. "I miss you."

  "Lorit. Don't," was all she said before she dropped the connection. Her vision returned to see Uwora looking at her with brows wrinkled.

  "Is something the matter?" Uwora asked.

  "No, why do you ask?"

  "Because you were talking to me, then you just stopped and stared off into space all quiet like. I tried to get your attention, but you just sat there."

  Chihon flushed. It had been rude of her to connect with Lorit without warning Uwora what she was about to do. Chihon had not considered that she'd never told the girl she was a sorceress. "I was talking to someone," Chihon explained.

  "Who was it, and how could you talk to someone like that?"

  "It was Lorit. He's a wizard, a powerful one."

  "Is he your man?"

  Chihon frowned. "That's something I need to find out."

  "Could I talk to people far away, too?" Uwora looked at her with pleading eyes.

  "Not unless you are a sorceress." It was hard to explain what it meant to be a sorceress. That was why the wizards lived in Amedon. They understood each other instinctively. Living among the general population, one either had to hide the fact that he was a wizard or explain himself frequently.

  "Are you a sorceress?"

  "Yes, I am," Chihon admitted.

  "Can you teach me magic?"

  "Not unless the power comes awake in you. Even if you were a sorceress, that wouldn't happen for a few summers yet." The girl was well below the age when power awoke. She would have no magic for quite a while, even if she were destined to become a sorceress.

  The next morning, Chihon ate a quick meal with Uwora and her father and told them that she was going to be off for a few days. She wasn't sure where to start. She knew the route from Veldwaite to Amedon would take Sir Adane over the Swion Mountains to the Plains of Grass, but so did whoever was chasing him. Sir Adane was a better strategist than that. He would not take the obvious route. She would have to find the more obscure route.

  Chihon found a quiet place outside of town to rest and sat beneath the shade of a large oak tree. She folded her legs, hands on her knees, and opened her mind, searching for Sir Adane. Chihon had healed the knight after a battle in which he'd been wounded. That healing had left a trace that she could follow to find him. She pictured him, tall and broad shouldered. He was a hunter, with dark leathery skin from constant exposure to the sun. She visualized him in his battle armor as she had seen him last.

  A slight mist formed before her. Chihon kept herself calm and waited for the mist to settle and show her the way. In the mist, she saw Sir Adane. He wasn't alone; he had a boy with him. The lad was almost as tall as Sir Adane, but had not yet filled out. The squire sat straight in the saddle, riding side by side with the knight. They rode hard. Occasionally, one of them looked over their shoulder as if expecting pursuit.

  Chihon tried to determine where they were. She had only the vaguest idea that they were crossing the plains of Veldwaite, heading toward the coastal mountains. They were indeed traveling in the direction she had hoped they would. They would reach the coastal mountains within the moon. Good. She was on the right track.

  Chihon knew that she could not establish a connection to Sir Adane as she did with Lorit or another wizard. Lorit had placed a spell of protection on the knight that kept all magical influences away from him. If she couldn't talk to the knight, maybe she could place a thought in his mind to let him know that she was on her way to meet him. She formed the thought and pushed it at the knight, but a firm wall rejected her intrusion. She tried harder but was rejected again.

  Think. If she couldn't reach him, they might cross paths accidentally. Repeated attempts to contact the knight were met with failure. The shield about Sir Adane was too strong. She had to find a way. Chihon looked closely at the knight and his squire. Of course, that was it. When the idea came to her, she was ashamed that she'd been so foolish. Chihon formed a picture in her mind. She created the image of herself and added the certainty that she was coming to help. She pressed the thought on the youth riding with Sir Adane so that when he next slept, he would see her in his dreams. She'd wasn't sure that she'd gotten through. She'd have to keep trying until she could be sure, but at least she had a destination.

  The next morning, Chihon probed the area around the knight and his squire. They were making good progress, galloping across the grassland, headed for the forest that clung to the foothills of the Swion Mountains, but something felt amiss. The clump of trees in their path was wrong, off color, as if a malevolence dwelt there.

  Chihon turned her energy to the trees, willing her vision to reveal what lay hidden in the woods. The woods themselves were normal. No threat there, but some of the individual trees hid a dark presence.

  She pressed harder, singling out one of the darker tree trunks. A dark shade clung to it, masking something. The spell was a temple spell. She focused her energy on it and pushed through it to see what was hidden there.

  It was an archer.

  The woods were infested with them. Archers and crossbows hid behind the trees, waiting.

  It was an ambush.

  Chapter 24

  The sun rose, shedding light on the planes of Veldwaite where sheep lazily munched away at the lush grass, their wool coats thick and white. Beneath a sheltering live-oak, Sir Adane's squire busied himself over the morning's fire.

  Adane had been awake for a while, taking in the peacefulness of the sunrise. He liked being on the road, even if he was being pursued. It was a game of strategy. This morning, their camp was hidden beneath a live oak. The small cook-fire threw off a tiny wisp of white smoke that was absorbed by the foliage, hiding it from view by anyone searching for them.

  Sir Adane reached for the pack, hefting it to assure himself the dragon egg was still safe, then chided himself. There had been no sign of pursuit since they left the castle. He worried for Ukina's safety more than his own.

  "How much further to Amedon?" Iwori interrupted Adane's thoughts.

  "A moon or more. There's a mountain passage I want to take." Adane nodded toward the snow-covered peaks on the horizon.

  "Is it really a dragon's egg?"

  The boy had been curious about their burden ever since they left Veldwaite. Adane was surprised he'd managed to wait so long before asking about it.

  "So I'm told. I have no magic to know such things."

  "Why do they want it?" the boy asked. "The priests and the nobles."

  "They think it will help them take the throne away from our queen."

  "Why do they want to do that?"

  "Indeed...Why would anyone want the throne? They covet the power and riches that the throne represents. I'm sure that if they truly understood what it meant to sit on the throne, they wouldn't want it."

  "I don't understand." Iwori stirred the pan he'd placed above the fire. The aroma of bacon and eggs wafted out of it.

  "There is great responsibility to the throne. Queen Ukina works very hard to provide for her people, as did her father before her. He was tireless, always meeting with one group or another, trying to keep everyone happy and make sure there was enough food to go around. It's not an easy job."

  "Doesn't Queen Ukina do that, too? Why are they trying to take the throne away from her, then?"

  "Because they think she's weak." Adane fished his plate from his pack and held it out while Iwori scooped the mixture from the pot onto it. Sir Adane examined the boy's cooking before digging in. The boy was becoming a good cook.

  "Is she?" Iwori asked.

  "Weak?" Adane shook his head. "She may seem scattered and out of touch at times, but she's very wise. She's been through a lot, with the temple taking her captive, her father dying, and her brother being taken by the temple. It's enough
to make anyone break down and cry, but she took on the throne and has done a good job. She has plans that will make the kingdom even more prosperous than when her father was king.

  "That's why the nobles are after her. She's going to establish a merchant class and open Veldwaite up to free trade. Veldwaite will become a prosperous center of commerce if she has her way."

  "But they don't like it."

  "No, they don't. The nobles and the temple will lose their hold on the people if she succeeds. They have nothing to gain from this."

  Adane finished the last of his breakfast, shoved his plate into the dirt, and used the dust to scrub it clean before re-stowing it in his pack.

  "Come on. We should get started. I don't know if anyone's following us, but I don't want to stay in one place too long."

  Iwori spread dirt on the fire to smother it, stowed the pan in his pack, and cleaned up the campsite. When the fire was out, he kicked the ashes around and covered everything with leaves. When he was finished, it was as if no one had been there. Adane smiled. The lad was a fine squire and would one day make a great knight.

  Sir Adane and Iwori rode the dusty trails stopping for meals, but pressing ever onward. There were no signs of pursuit, but Sir Adane worried. He had the magical protection that Lorit had bestowed on him, but Iwori did not, and the boy had been having strange dreams for the last few nights. At first Sir Adane thought it was just the boy's imagination, that the lad was dreaming of some maiden they'd encountered at an inn or market along the way, but when he described the woman in his dreams, Sir Adane grew worried.

  "Tell me again about the dream," Sir Adane encouraged Iwori.

  "She comes to me as I sit beside the fire. I'm usually cooking when she appears. She doesn't walk up, she just sort of materializes out of nothing."

  "Go on."

  "She's old...like my mother, not my grandma'am...but she's nice. She smiles and talks with me, asking how we're doing, and how the journey is going."

  Adane didn't like what he heard. The boy described someone who could only be Tass. Tass was a priestess that had worked in the castle as Ukina's maid until the day she bewitched the princess and captured the sorceress Chihon. Adane thought she was dead, but a powerful priestess like her had ways of surviving. He looked around as if the mere thought of her would bring her out of hiding.

  "And what do you tell her?" Sir Adane had prepared the boy in case something like this happened, but one could never be too certain.

  "I tell her we are making good time and should reach Mistwind before the next new moon."

  Sir Adane laughed. Mistwind was one of the routes they could have taken. It was a likely path, but not the one they were on.

  "Good. Keep in mind that we're dealing with wizards and sorceresses. They can take any form and inhabit your dreams if you're not careful."

  "I don't tell anyone where we are...but the other one already knows."

  "Which other one?" There was another woman? Was it a second priest or was someone else trying to find them?

  Iwori squirmed in his saddle. "The one that came to me last night. She was younger and pretty. She said that we were on the right path and should keep going the way we are. She said she would meet us at the foot of the mountains and guide us to Amedon."

  Sir Adane expected to be sought out by the temple, but who was this new woman who was inhabiting Iwori's dreams?

  "What does she look like?"

  "She's young and pretty. She has long brown hair and green eyes." Iwori looked at Sir Adane. "Do you know who it is?"

  "I have my suspicions, but until we find out who, try not to let her in your dreams. The temple has tricks to make you think they're your friend. It's best not to trust anyone."

  "I'll try, but how do you keep a wizard out of your dreams?"

  "I'll make you a special tea that should help. But until we find out who's looking for us now, we'd better hurry." Sir Adane urged his horse onward.

  Chapter 26

  Tass was anxious. Queen Ukina had finally broken and told Ghall where the egg was headed, and he'd sent troops to intercept it. She couldn't let Ghall get his hands on the egg. Fortunately, she'd planted spies in Ghall's troops who would report back to her when they discovered something. She didn't have long to wait. She received a message from one of the men stating that they were waiting in ambush for the knight. Tass focused in on them and spoke the spell that took her through the void to a small stand of trees somewhere in the southern part of Veldwaite. She appeared near an archer who recognized her.

  "Mother!" The guard almost fell over backward in his surprise, but quickly recovered. "Our target is almost here. We must be quiet."

  "Don't worry. They're still half a league away. They can't hear us yet." Now that she was close, she could sense the egg. It would be here soon, carried right into her hands by Sir Adane.

  "How many men do you have here?" she asked.

  "Two score."

  Tass arched her eyebrow. "That many?"

  "Father Ghall wants to assure that we capture the egg he seeks."

  Tass probed ahead for their quarry. The knight and his squire were approaching swiftly. They would soon be in range of the archers.

  "When they get in position, hold for my signal. I don't want anyone killed unless I give the word."

  "But, Mother, Father Ghall said to take no captives."

  "I want to speak to these prisoners. Tell your men to hold for my signal."

  "Yes, Mother." The archer passed the word to his men.

  Tass sensed the queen's men before she saw them. The knight and his squire rode into the clearing just as expected. The knight had a faint violet glow about him. He was protected. The archers would have been foiled if they had tried to shoot him. Tass stood up and extended her arm.

  "Hold there," she commanded.

  The knight reined his horse short. He looked around as the archers stepped from behind the thick tree trunks and turned back to Tass without a word.

  "I see you're a wise man," Tass said.

  "I'm no fool." The knight sat still, making no move to escape or yield.

  "Why are you here?" Tass demanded.

  "What business is that of yours? This is Veldwaite and I am a knight of the Realm as you well know."

  "I had hoped to spare any innocents, but if you insist on standing in my way, my men will simply kill you and we can search your corpses."

  "They could try." The knight lowered his visor.

  Tass stepped back and raised her hand. Before she could lower it to signal the archers, the violet glow around the knight intensified. A surge of familiar power washed over Tass.

  It was the sorceress Chihon.

  When the mist cleared, Chihon stood beside the knight, glowing with residual magic that extended to cover the knight and his squire.

  Chihon spoke to the knight, who reached into his saddlebags and withdrew the egg. Magic emanated from the egg as Chihon took it and clutched it to her breast. Once again, the mist formed around the sorceress. Tass flew into a rage. The sorceress had simply materialized in the camp and stolen the egg, and she was going to get away.

  Tass reached out and placed a containment spell on Chihon so the sorceress couldn't call out. The last thing Tass needed was for her to bring help from Amedon. "Fire!" Tass screamed.

  The arrows bounced off Chihon and the knight without doing any damage. Tass probed for a weakness in the knight's shields, but found none and dismissed him. She no longer cared about the knight. She wanted Chihon dead.

  "The girl!" Tass screamed.

  The archers reloaded and fired all at once. The crossbow quarrels flew straight for Chihon. Tass reached out, driving them as hard as she could with her magic. She seized one arrow and willed it to pass through Chihon's shields.

  As the quarrels contacted Chihon's shields, they flashed into nothingness. All but one. The one that Tass drove passed through the shield and struck the sorceress in the thigh. Chihon doubled over in pain, momentarily lowerin
g her shields.

  "Again, you fools."

  Once again, the archers let fly. Tass grasped as many quarrels as she could and put the full force of her magic behind them. Most of them flashed into light and vanished, but two penetrated Chihon's weakened shields. The squire fell to the ground, dead, pierced by a crossbow bolt, while two other quarrels struck Chihon, one in the chest, the other in her shoulder. She screamed in pain and fell to the ground as the violet light surrounding the knight faded.

  The archers reloaded and targeted the knight once more.

  "Hold," Tass shouted.

  "Shall we kill him?" one of the archers asked.

  "No. Bring him with us."

  Tass walked over to where Chihon lay bleeding in the path. She looked down at the girl and nudged her to see if Chihon was alive. Chihon moaned, but didn't look up. Her clothes were soaked with blood where the arrows had penetrated.

  Tass took the egg from Chihon. It was heavy in her hand and just slightly warm. She felt the ridges of the gold that enmeshed the egg and the sharp bite of the jewels. Tass stuffed the egg into her pack.

  "What about the woman?" one of the archers asked. "Shall we bring her?"

  "Leave her for the wolves," Tass said. She mounted a horse and turned to ride off without looking back.

  Chapter 27

  Lorit stayed with Queen Ukina to console her about her troubles and learn about the dragon's egg she had discovered. While they sat quietly, Lorit's power surged. Chihon had drawn on it to perform a travel spell, and Lorit knew she had found Sir Adane. "I think Chihon has gone to escort Sir Adane and the egg," Lorit told the queen.

  "Have you ever seen one?" Ukina asked.

  "No. Not even in books. There's not much about the dragons in the library in Amedon...Actually, there's almost nothing about the dragons in Amedon's library."