“I thought this was your star pupil,” Duke Golad said.
“He was,” Jonathan said. “Which brought him to the attention of every loudmouth in the Tower.”
“I closed a lot of those mouths,” Charles said. “They were angry you liked me and was jealous when His Grace gave me a good job. You should see me now after all of the practicing I have had with Lord Russell and the other instructors. I don’t think many can take me, even that group you have in the Tower.”
“They are nothing to play with,” Jonathan said. “I think you will be too much for their speedster. He doesn’t have great power and you match up well. You would be smart to stay away from their best fighter and their best mage. Segdrick Davies is built like a mountain man and has enough power to overcome your spell. Emma Gillespie would quickly overwhelm you and the new commoner in the class has speed and power to take you down as well. I haven’t even mentioned the others yet, I think three of them will have what it takes to take out Monica pretty soon.”
“Is this true?” Duke Golad said as he looked at Russell.
“Danica is a step below in power to Monica but she can cast four spells and is faster than Thunder is at casting,” Russell replied. “I think she could beat Thunder in a few years if the conditions were right.”
“What about your sister?” Duke Golad asked.
“Farrah would outlast her,” Russell replied. “Only way I can see her winning. Danica is fast enough that Farrah would have a hard time using her speed. Danica’s last fight with Thunder would have had Farrah in trouble depending on what spell Farrah cast to start off with. I think my sister would come up with something. Danica would have to fight the match of her life while Farrah would need an off day. They have already matched up before and Farrah has come out on top.”
“So this lot going through are the real deal then?” Duke Golad asked.
“In any class but mine prior to them, I could not imagine any of them but their speedster taking not top honors,” Jonathan said. “I think the one with the speed could surprise and defeat Gerald Morningstar the first few times they fought. But like I have always said, there are levels to the mage game.”
“And what would that be Thunder?” Russell asked.
“The strongest mage is not necessarily the best fighter,” Jonathan began. “The best fighter is not necessarily the most rounded. Then you have some mages that are able to cast certain magics easier than others. Take the mages in this room, even those I have yet to be introduced to. You are the strongest mage here and as luck would have it, you are the most rounded. But my lightning magic is the most devastating spell this Kingdom has ever seen. My father has killed many mages who sought to teach him a lesson. That makes people like me better suited to take out a single target. However with the power at your disposal, you could annihilate mobs of mundanes with a ferocity that I could only dream about. Charles is uniquely suited to mage fighting, his spell is faster than my lightning and could pause my use of it temporarily. If an enemy mage was in a crowd of people he intended to kill, who would you trust to get the job done with minimal causalities?”
“You put a lot of thought into this,” Bradley said.
“It is just how things are,” Jonathan said. “I also have earth magic which makes me better suited for some tasks than even Lord Russell. I have no doubt who the strongest mage in the Kingdom is, but having the most power doesn’t mean you are the best suited to every challenge. I would not recommend fighting the current class in the Tower to soothe an ego.”
“Isn't that why you did it?” Russell asked.
“The Champion backs down from no man,” Jonathan replied. “But yeah, my first fight was for giggles. Didn’t know what I was getting myself into. So who are you four? All I know is that you did some shady stuff and ended up working for the Mountain instead of dead or treated like a normal prisoner. I am one of the lads, unlike the rest I am a commoner as well.”
“I am a bandit,” the oldest one said. Jonathan could tell he was missing a few of his bottom teeth and he had a sizable burn scar on his neck. “Got caught by Charles, he snuck up on me while my boys were dealing with Tobin. I woke up in chains with an ultimatum. Worked out well enough, food is good, ale is free and I have a place to lay my head. I work hard but I get days off. Not much different I suppose than a regular job. Went by the Night Terror for a bit. Now people just call me Bruce.”
“Jon Thunder,” Jonathan said and shook his hand. “I just go by Jon or Johnny to my friends. What about the rest of you?”
“My name is Flossy,” came a female voice that surprised Jonathan. He just assumed all of the mages were men. Why would a woman do stupid things when she was guaranteed an easy life. “I can tell by your face that you just noticed I am woman.”
“Didn’t mean any offense,” Jonathan said. “Just don’t see many women having an ale is all.”
“I am different than those precious lilies you have in the tower,” Flossy said. “I didn’t want to be saddled with some old man or some boy no matter how much money they had. Not when commoner boys were out having all kinds of fun when they left the Tower. I saw no reason not to sleep with whoever I wanted. Money got short and I started luring rich men to bed and robbing them blind when they fell asleep. I got caught and was tossed in here.”
“That is quite a tale,” Jonathan replied.
“I was an idiot for trying it this close to the Mountain,” Flossy said. “The men here handle their ale better than most and fighting Charles off was impossible.”
“Well at least you have had your fun,” Jonathan replied. “How much longer on your sentence?”
“A year,” Flossy replied. “Not sure what the plan is after that. All sorts of sweet talkers have been in to woo me. Still not ready to be someone’s wife, I still have a lot of life left to live the way I want to live it.”
“Fair enough,” Jonathan nodded.
“I guess I am next,” a dark haired man said. He was short and had a greasy quality to his skin. Jonathan thought a better description would have been oily. He had obviously never skipped a meal and the normally flowing robes fit him tightly. “My name is Aiden. I wasn’t anywhere near the mountain when I was caught. I had a good thing going ripping off brothels. I would of course pay for the pleasure, didn’t matter since I ripped the house off later on. I even had a crew of women working for me. They would go to a brothel, work there for a bit to find out the operation and I would come and rob them blind. One of them wanted to run the show and got the rest behind her. So I let them. They of course couldn’t do anything without me since they needed muscle and by the time they came begging I had already picked up a new crew. One of the Magisters of a town I had ripped off was contacted and he got a hold of His Grace. Fought off Tobin, I planned on hitting him and fleeing. No way I could go toe to toe with a brute like that. Never saw Charles coming. By the time I fiddled with Charles, Tobin laid me low. Woke up in a wagon cell headed to the mountain and here I am. I am almost done with my time.”
“That is a tough break,” Jonathan replied.
“I am the last one,” said the last mage. He was obviously a man of the mountain. He was fair skinned, light eyed and blonde. He wasn’t as big as some of the mountain men Jonathan had seen but couldn’t be called small. Jonathan thought he was about thirty, something about his eyes let Jonathan know he was hiding pain. “I go by Cel. Walked in to my childhood sweetie turned wife naked on top of another man. Killed them both right there. My children were taken in by her mother since my parents are dead. They have been poisoned against me and wants nothing to do with me. That is that.”
“Pit,” Jonathan said.
“From what I know of you Jonathan,” Bradley said. “You would have done the same thing.”
“Of course I would have,” Jonathan replied. “And any woman I end up with will likely do the same. To catch you four up, I am Jon Thunder. Some mages were angry my parents were commoner mages who married each other and tried to entice my father
to a fight to the death. My Da Joshua killed the idiot and was sent to face practically and entire army with my mother and one other mage who had been pissing off the elite. They died and I have been sorting out whoever needs since then. I have made more enemies in the Kingdom than the speckled plague and have killed more people than can fit into this keep.”
“And for some reason you think that is something to be proud of,” Russell said.
“It is something to be proud of,” Jonathan replied. “You have always been a big one, with big power and the silver spoon. No one has ever really tried you before, well other than me. I get the nasty end of the stick daily, no better joy than taking that stick and beating the pit out of the one shaking it at me. But enough of that, Tobin Mountain, scourge of the Tower of Magic. How is it going legit? Red wanted me to ask you that if I ever saw you.”
“He aint one to talk,” Tobin said. “You tell Mr. Tower Instructor he been off the streets longer than I have. Besides, I got a good wife, a good job and two girls.”
“You are a Da?” Jonathan asked.
“You gotta stick it to em early,” Tobin said. “Once they have a babe, they aint going nowhere. Probably should have read the fine print, I aint going anywhere either. Should have taken up your friend, at least for a few years. But right now I couldn’t imagine being anywhere other than in her arms.”
“What friend?” Russell asked.
“Bill Angus,” Jonathan replied. “He was a senior when we were going through. Had a decent hustle going on. Basically ran a stud service. Any commoner man could go get some loving from many willing participants. Could even get married if they wanted to. Never took him up on his offer but Red spent his off months there and so did a lot of others.”
“Disgraceful,” Russell replied.
“To each his own,” Jonathan replied. “Now enough of this, you are getting in the way of free ale.”
CHAPTER 16
The Golads
Jonathan had been at the Golad’s for two weeks. During that time he had been shown around the mountain and was utterly shocked the people of the mountain didn’t consider Russell to be an ass. Jonathan thought it was like dealing with two different people, the Russell outside of the mountain was an ass. He was as stuck up as they come and thought he was better than everyone else. The Russell that was heir to the Mountain was loved everywhere he went and went out of his way to make the commoners in the duchy comfortable. When Russell wasn’t doing any of that, he was personally training the duchy’s mages to do more than fight. He taught the best way to clear a road and cut down a tree. The road business was easy, Jonathan could just use earth magic instead of combination fire, wind, and aura magics. The rest of the stuff he just had no talent in. He could of course beat the other mages sans Russell, against Russell there was no competition. Against other things, Jonathan liked what he saw.
Russell taught his own classes on how to fight and what was the best spells to use to bring down an enemy. Russell had more knowledge than Jonathan figured, he used non attacking spells like magelight to blind and wind blast to toss dust at people. He was far craftier than Jonathan thought, Jonathan would have guessed Russell would use his power and huge well to bull over any opposition. The spells Russell could cast where noticeably bigger than what Jonathan could do. Jonathan had tried to match him but knew he could not. Russell noticed this and probably took it as a win, Jonathan thought he would be dumb to do so. Jonathan noticed that Russell was not on par with his speed. If they fought, Jonathan was sure he could get off his mage bolts before Russell could. While he was certain that Russell would be able to withstand them and possibly hit back, Jonathan thought he would be able to get him with his lightning. Didn’t matter how strong Russell was if he couldn’t get past that spell.
Jonathan hadn't used his lightning at all, he didn’t want to give too much about it away and wanted to compete with Russell on his terms. Whatever Jonathan lacked in power he made up in his ability to cast twice as many spells simultaneously than Russell could. It narrowed the gap between them, it didn’t eliminate it but Jonathan was sure he impressed Russell with what he saw. Today would be different, there was no training which he enjoyed. Today was the day Farrah came back, she had been elsewhere in the Kingdom and was supposed to bring with her the mystery twins that Jonathan had heard about.
Jonathan did not have to deal with Duchess Golad this whole time either, she had left with her daughter so the Keep was quiet. Nothing but drinking with the lads, helping out around the Mountain and training. Jonathan would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy himself, many commoners had already heard of him and wanted to buy him a drink. Duke Golad told him that would end when his Daisy got home. This was the most mages she ever had in the Mountain and she had looked forward to getting Jonathan under her thumb for a while. Jonathan climbed out of his tub and put on his clothes. He had taken to wearing a simple outfit draped by furs and an axe. He didn’t have the power Russell or even Tobin could put behind the axe but he had a decent range and quick first move. Maybe he would continue his practice on using the axe even when he left.
Jonathan walked out to breakfast and could see the table was filled. The criminal Aiden was deemed to have completed his sentence of five years two days ago but other than a change of clothes decided he was right where he needed to be. Jonathan thought it had a lot with not laying with a woman for the last five years and getting the chance to meet a rich one that made him stay. Jonathan thought the Golads were masters at indoctrination, he could see how someone could believe in the message of everyone for the mountain. Jonathan himself thought it was more like a family atmosphere and if he was a poor mage he would be happy to kiss up to Russell. But he was Jonathan Thunder, this was just not his path.
“Jonathan,” Duchess Golad said as she looked him up and down. “She normally called him Thunder and if Jonathan wasn’t hallucinating the sharp edge she normally spoke with while talking to him was gone.
“Good morning Your Grace,” Jonathan replied as he took a seat.
“If you were filled out a bit more and your hair was different, I would think you belong in the Mountain,” Duchess Golad said.
“The Mountain has been good to me,” Jonathan replied. “Good ale, good food, rewarding work and I have kept up on my training and even learned some things from Lord Russell. This trip has been a nice little diversion.”
“You have enjoyed your stay?” Duchess Golad said almost surprised.
“Well he has certainly enjoyed my ale and mountain goat,” Duke Golad bellowed. “Even started using that axe. Biggest shock is that him and Russell haven't tried to kill each other. They have tried to outdo each other like all strong lads but it has been clean fun.”
“Thunder knows how we match up,” Russell said. “He is a bit stronger than I thought and he can cast more spells than I can at once. But I am the strongest mage ever to exist, I am sure he knows that his best is still not on my level.”
“I can agree with that,” Jonathan said. Jonathan still thought his lightning magic would take Russell before the boy could get any offense or defense together. “It has been a learning experience, everything I discarded in the Tower in favor of learning how to kill, Lord Russell has been teaching me. I think I am a better mage because of this trip. And I got to spend time with lads just being lads instead of all of the politicking that goes on in the Kingdom.”
“Well you should start meeting the important people in the Mountain, not just the commoners,” Duchess Golad said. “I see you have completed your time Aiden.”
“And I have been reading every boring book about everything Your Grace,” Aiden replied. “His Grace said if I stay and follow the rules that he is going to give me a small estate.”
“He will,” Duchess Golad said. “And you will receive similar pay to everyone else.”
“Thank you,” Aiden said. “Can’t believe I am going to be some fancy man in my own home. My own legal home that no one can take away from me and I don’t h
ave to do anything too dangerous to get there. When I left the Tower I was happy to go. I had been beaten on so much that I didn’t want anything to do with any noble. I had my fun but it is time to do things the right way.”
“And what about the rest of you?” Duchess Golad asked. “You see where Aiden is now.”
“If you can find me a nice young woman who wants to be shackled to a toothless older man then ink me in,” Bruce said. “I have been tired of being on the run from you all for a long time. Hard to get out of the gang once you have been in for so long. Getting the pit kicked out of me by a couple of kids was the best thing that could have happened. I am going to finish up my time, hopefully get a job working for the Mountain and have some kids.”
“You don’t have any?” Jonathan asked surprised. “I have never pried into your business but I was on a month long mission with a few commoners like myself. Most of them had kids.”
“If I did something like that here, I would have fathers after me,” Bruce said. “And the womenfolk would out me as the mage putting babies in bellies. I wouldn’t ever be able to hide. It is about time I have a few though, I am not getting any younger.”
“I want to get myself settled first but now I am not so sure,” Jonathan said. “I live a dangerous life and I am the last of the Thunders. I am thinking I should have one, you know, just in case.”
“What happened to that girl you were with?” Duchess Golad said.
“I ran her off Your Grace,” Jonathan replied. “She wants a house cat, I am not that guy. I can see how being close to the mountain is a decent life. Too tame for me though. I need to be out there being in the mix of things.”
“And you expect some woman to forgo her husband being home so you can go play soldier?” Duchess Golad asked.
“Of course not,” Jonathan replied. “Which is why I am still alone. If I do find someone she will have to be good with it. It seems like every young lady I met has been sent by someone else who has their own ideas of what I should be doing.”
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